George Russell arrives in Shanghai ahead of the 2026 Chinese GP as the 68th driver in history to lead the championship standings, a first in the Briton’s F1 career.
Mercedes’ emphatic 1-2 at last week’s Melbourne season opener appeared to confirm what many already suspected throughout testing—the Brackley-based outfit is back on top as the team to beat.
Russell downplays championship lead ahead of 2026 Chinese GP
Speaking to the media on Thursday in Shanghai, Russell made it clear that his position at the top of the standings hasn’t changed his attitude as he prepares for the 2026 Chinese GP.
“It feels no different to any other day, to be honest, here in China,” he said. “Preparing as usual, going out on distance as usual. I’m most happy about the fact that the car is quick and reacting as we think. There’s still room to improve, and that’s what I’m most pleased about the championship at this point.”
Russell had a chance to catch up with former Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton en route to Shanghai. The 28-year old noted that Hamilton seemed buoyed by a positive Australian GP weekend for Ferrari.
“And then, yeah, as for Lewis, he was actually very happy and positive after the race. I think he deserved to be on the podium if the strategy was in a slightly different direction.
“And I think the general view from the two of us is that it can be quite a close fight between ourselves and Ferrari.”
Mercedes not taking anything for granted after Melbourne 1-2
Despite the strong start to the 2026 season, Russell insisted that the opening weekend didn’t paint a complete picture of the pecking order and is not necessarily a preview of what to expect at the Chinese GP. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen suffered an uncharacteristic crash in the opening segment of qualifying, which left him in damage mode for most of the race, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri failed to make it to the starting grid ahead of the race under similar circumstances.
“I think everybody expected us to walk away with the race on Sunday,” Russell said, reflecting on the Melbourne weekend.
He suggested that Mercedes excelled at qualy prep on Saturday, which helped create the impression of a bigger advantage than may actually exist.
“My view is a lot of teams didn’t optimise qualifying,” Russell continued.
“I think we did a really great job of qualifying. When I looked at the data, we were the quickest on the outlaps. It was really cold. We got the tyres in a really good place. We were the quickest in all corners. We got the energy management right.
“Even myself versus Kimi, there was a big difference in terms of the straight line speed. There were a few little driving style differences. But I think Sunday showed the true pace.
“When you look at Ferrari’s last stint, they were basically on the same lap times as us. And I truly think—but I’m not convinced we could have won the race if they both pitted when we did, it would have been, would have been a fight.”
2026 season start “not comparable” to Mercedes 2014 domination
With Mercedes starting the 2026 regulations era out strong, comparisons have inevitably been drawn to Mercedes’ dominance in 2014 at the dawn of the turbo-hybrid era, a topic Russell discussed ahead of the Chinese GP. Russell rejected that narrative that the Brackley-based outfit could dominate the championship in a similar fashion again this year, explaining: “It’s not comparable to 2014, because in 2014 Mercedes had a major advantage on the power unit compared to every other manufacturer.
“And there wasn’t a team with a Mercedes engine that could compete. Now, the winner of the championship for the last two years has been a car with a Mercedes in the back of it.
“So you know McLaren are capable of fighting against us. And Ferrari and Red Bull have seemingly produced a power unit that is very close to what we have. So at the moment the differences look to be coming from the car. I think we have produced a really good car this year. There’s lots of talk around the engine, and of course the engine is great. But the car is fantastic as well, and that isn’t being given the credit it deserves.
“So yeah, I’m sure it will close up quick. Max [Verstappen] wasn’t in the fight last week, and his teammate qualified third. So you could have expected him to have been in the fight with the usual [circumstances].”
