Why Russell was impressed by Mercedes engine rivals at Barcelona shakedown
George Russell has been labelled a pre-season title favourite, but he expects a tough battle.
Mercedes turned heads in the Barcelona closed-doors shakedown, though it was a debut run in the new F1 2026 machines which went relatively smoothly for much of the grid.
With such sweeping changes made to the regulations, Russell was particularly surprised by how well things went on the engine side in Barcelona for the manufacturers, Russell admitting that the rivals of Mercedes were doing “some impressive things” in that first, unofficial pre-season test.
George Russell: Many people expected engine manufacturers ‘struggling’
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It is all change in Formula 1 for F1 2026, with smaller, lighter cars, active aerodynamics, plus 50/50 electric and biofuel engines all arriving in the sport.
The teams and engine manufacturers hit the track for the first time in Barcelona, as part of a test held between 26-30 January, one which was not open to the media.
Mercedes were believed to have completed the most laps of any team, a verified, unofficial tally of 500. The Silver Arrows allegedly impressed across its three days of running, strengthening the pre-season hype which surrounds that team and power unit manufacturer.
Mercedes is one of five PU manufacturers on the F1 2026 grid alongside Ferrari, Honda, Red Bull Ford and Audi.
There were very few notable interruptions for any of those brands. The Red Bull Ford engine seemingly ran without any setback, as did the Audi creation, after a few initial teething problems with the R26 car were ironed out.
This was impressive considering that both of these engine operations have been formed from scratch for F1 2026.
The Mercedes and Ferrari engines appeared to run just fine, while Aston Martin did not put in enough laps to give a true read on the Honda.
“I think on the power unit side, there’s some impressive things from some of our competitors, and that’s quite surprising, to be honest,” admitted Mercedes driver George Russell, when reflecting on Barcelona with the F1 website.
“So yeah, well done to them.
“But obviously, three days into a 24-race season, so you don’t want to judge too much into that.
“But I think a lot of people anticipated the new power unit suppliers to be sort of struggling and whatnot, and they’ve sort of had a good test as well.
“So, that’s good for them, but for us, time will tell.”
More on F1 2026 from PlanetF1.com
F1 results: Unofficial numbers from the Barcelona shakedown
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff gives first verdict of ‘spectacular’ F1 2026 cars
Two official pre-season tests in Bahrain await, taking place from 11-13 and 18-20 February.
From there, the F1 2026 season kicks off with the Australian Grand Prix on 8 March.
“I’m looking forward to Bahrain, but just looking forward to going racing now, to be honest,” said Russell, “and sort of really see where we all shake out.”
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