New Headline: George Russell Set to Join Williams in 2026—Drivers Celebrate Victory in Race-Track Revolution!

Motorsport photo George Russell has defended the new Formula 1 regulations, claiming “diehard” fans are enjoying the 2026 rules more than they thought they would. F1 is debuting its latest regulation overhaul with changes to both the chassis and power unit, the latter of which is now more reliant on electrical energy so battery management is key. It entails downshifting on a straight or lifting and coasting into a corner, and this is all contributing to a more ‘yo-yo’ style of racing, which has been witnessed across the opening two rounds of 2026.

In Melbourne there was an early to and fro between Charles Leclerc and eventual winner Russell, who enjoyed a similar battle in the China sprint with Lewis Hamilton on Saturday. Russell has enjoyed this new style which goes against the more common opinion in the paddock, with Max Verstappen and Lando Norris being the two biggest critics of the ruleset. So when asked if the ‘yo-yo’ battles will continue throughout 2026, Russell responded: “We’re not actually sure, to be honest, at this stage.

There is still lots of learning to be had, and I think both in Melbourne and this morning in the sprint, I probably could have done things very slightly differently to have maintained that lead earlier on. “But clearly with the overtake mode, the driver behind can use the boost button up to I think 330km/h, where the guy in the front can only use it to 290km/h. It seems to work quite well.

“It isn’t DRS, but it works in a similar pattern for the speed delta. So, I think it’s been quite interesting, quite fun, and I think some even with diehards maybe aren’t disliking it as much as they did maybe a week ago, but we just still need to give it a chance. ” George Russell, Mercedes George Russell, Mercedes One of the predictions with the new cars was that they would be totally different to anything drivers have used before, as Esteban Ocon claimed in the off-season that “we can forget everything that we’ve learned since go-karts” .