George Russell says 2026 Formula 1 season start does not have 2014 vibes

The Briton referred to the start of the first V6 turbo-hybrid era back in 2014, where—aside from Mercedes—all teams struggled with their power units.

However, after Monday's running in Barcelona, the first day of the private shakedown, the teams seem to have done a great job, as only newcomers Audi and Cadillac struggled to rack up mileage.

Mercedes were impressive in particular, with Russell and teammate Kimi Antonelli racking up 149 laps in the brand new W17, while Alpine, also powered by Mercedes, racked up 60 laps with Franco Colapinto, negating for now earlier reports that they may have issues with their new power units.

“It’s amazing just to be back out driving again,” Russell told F1 TV. “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," he explained.

The new cars require a different approach in driving while managing the new power units and the moveable aero, with Russell admitting they feel “very different”.

He added: "Once you wrap your head around it, it then feels quite intuitive. I think all in all it’s been an exciting day.

“For sure, we're very pleased with the day," the Mercedes driver said of his team's session, "but I was pretty impressed with a number of other teams, to be honest.

“You see the Red Bull-powered teams’ brand-new power unit, and they’re like a brand-new team from a power unit side, and they had a really smooth day with two cars.

“Audi had some good laps in there as well, and I think Haas did the most laps of everyone with a Ferrari engine. It’s not quite 2014 vibes of half the grid breaking down and having loads of issues—I think Formula 1’s evolved so much since then, and the level’s just so high.

“From every single aspect, it was pretty impressive to see all the teams on the whole having a lot of laps under their belt on day one," Russell concluded.