George Russell was “impressed” by Mercedes’ rivals after a busy start to Formula 1’s 2026 shakedown.
A new F1 era began in Barcelona on Monday as seven teams ran their all-new cars and power units for the first time in earnest.
However, media and spectators are being kept away by a strong security presence in Catalonia.
One reason for the secretive start to 2026 is memories of 2014, when the introduction of new hybrid engines meant limited running in the early days of testing.
But those concerns were allayed as teams managed a reported 629 laps on the opening day, Haas leading the way with 154 tours of the Catalan circuit.
And it was the strong early reliability of the new power units that caught Russell’s attention the most on day one.
“We are pleased with our day, but I’ve also been impressed by several other teams, too,” he told the team post-session.
“The Red Bull power unit has completed a lot of laps, which, given that it’s their first engine they’ve built, means they’ve clearly done a good job.
“Haas also managed a similar amount of running to ourselves, so the Ferrari power unit has also put together plenty of mileage.
“It’s not quite how it was in 2014! The sport has evolved so much since then, and the level, in every single aspect, is so high now.”
Russell also gave a positive first impression of the 2026 F1 cars in general, adding: “It’s amazing just to be back out driving again.
“I think at the end of the year everyone’s looking forward to a break, but then after a week or two you’re raring to go again.
“There was obviously a lot of anticipation for these new power units, and so far, just generally on the whole, the amount of power they give is pretty impressive.
“I think for all the cars I was watching today, with all the different power units, it’s probably the quickest I’ve ever seen an F1 car pass here in Barcelona, so that was pretty exciting to see.
“And the cars, you feel it being smaller, you can feel that weight reduction compared to previous years, so I think from that aspect as well it’s gone in a good direction.”
In terms of lap times, Russell ended Monday unofficially in second place, four-tenths behind Isack Hadjar in the Red Bull.
Mercedes did take the honour of being first on track on Monday, with Kimi Antonelli heading straight out at 9 am.
“A very interesting morning,” the Italian commented.
“It’s very nice to be back in the car. It’s a massive learning – we’ve been trying to tune the PU and the car, and this afternoon the car has improved a lot.
“It is a constant learning, so the most important is trying to get the running, all the laps, as many laps as possible in order to tune the PU and the car in the best way as possible.”
