George Russell: Mercedes driver says Ferrari are being 'selfish and silly' by preventing changes to F1 start procedure

Mercedes driver George Russell has accused Ferrari of blocking the FIA from making changes to Formula 1’s starting procedure for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix and being “selfish” and “a little bit silly” for doing so.

Russell was victorious at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday as he and team-mate Kimi Antonelli converted a front-row lockout to a one-two at the chequered flag, but both had to recover from losing places at the start.

A factor in their slow getaways was that both, along with several other drivers, were left with low levels of battery after the formation lap, having been caught out by a rule that Russell says disadvantages those who have qualified on the front half of the grid.

Russell claims the sport’s governing body, the FIA, wants to change the rules to eliminate the issue, but that Ferrari, who made superb starts in Melbourne as Charles Leclerc took the lead and Lewis Hamilton surged forward, are unwilling to provide the ‘super majority’ required to push through the alteration.

“Unfortunately, sometimes when you’re trying to make changes for the good of the sport, if a team has a competitive edge – like Ferrari at the moment with the race starts – they wouldn’t wish to see anything changing,” Russell told Sky Sports F1.

“I think half the grid got caught out by a quirk in the rules for the race start in Melbourne. We now know that, but because there was some resistance from some teams to change, we’re just going to have to work around it.”

Speaking to the written media earlier on Thursday in Shanghai, Russell accused Ferrari of being “selfish” and “a bit silly”.

He said: “The FIA was looking to potentially adjust that (the start procedure), but as you can imagine some teams who were making good starts didn’t want it, which I think is just a little bit silly. I’m not overly concerned, but it’s definitely a challenge.”

Asked to clarify whether the FIA wants to change the rule, Russell added: “They could do. I think they want to, but they need a super majority from the teams, which they don’t have. So, you can probably guess which team is against that.

“I don’t think their gain is coming from this issue. Now all the teams know the problem, we’ll just drive around it. But it’s just creating a bit of unnecessary complications to something that doesn’t really need to be there. Half the grid messed up in Melbourne. We’ll adjust. We know what we need to be wary of now.

“The FIA did just want to make our life easier and just remove this harvest limit, but, as often [happens], people have selfish views and they want to do what’s best for themselves. And that’s part of Formula 1 and part of the challenge of Formula 1. We’ll deal with it and I think the starts here will be much better.”

What is the controversial rule?

The dispute has arisen amid the sport’s adjustment to both new power units and chassis for the 2026 season, following the biggest regulation change in F1 history.

The new power units, which rely upon more electrical energy than their predecessors, have made energy management the most crucial element in extracting performance at this early stage of the regulations.

Russell explained: “I think there was an error that caught a lot of teams out, which was the harvest limit on the formation lap.

“So, a very quirky rule… every lap there’s a harvest limit. The drivers who started in the first half of the grid, who were beyond the timing line, they were already within that lap. So when you did your formation-lap start, you’re spending your battery and you’re charging your battery, which goes towards your harvest limit.

“The drivers at the back, when they did their formation lap start, they then launch away, they cross the start-finish line and then it resets because they’re effectively on the next lap.

“So, from what we did in the practice starts, we did the launch before this line, and it reset. And on the race start, starting from pole, I went on the throttle, I charged the battery, but it took like 50 per cent of my harvest limit of that lap, so when I got halfway around the track, I could no longer charge the battery, I had no power to do proper burnouts.”

Hamilton: I haven’t caught up with the group chat

Before Russell’s accusation, Hamilton said he thought the start procedure was “exciting to watch” and that it would get better with time.

“There’s obviously the group chat, but I haven’t caught up with the group chat,” said Hamilton when asked if there had been discussion among the drivers. “So I’m not really sure what they’re all saying on it.”

“I’m not really into too many group chats because you’re always playing catch up.

“I mean it’s exciting to watch but I think it’s just the first race, so I think it’s just inevitable that there are issues along the way. But I think it will just get better and better.”

Sky Sports F1’s Chinese GP schedule

Friday March 13
1.05am: F1 Academy Practice
3am: Chinese GP Practice (session starts at 3.30am)*
5.30am: Team Bosses Press Conference*
6am: F1 Academy Qualifying*
6.45am: Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 7.30am)*

Saturday March 14
2.25am: Chinese GP Sprint build-up*
3am: CHINESE GP SPRINT*
4.30am: Ted’s Sprint Notebook*
5.30am: F1 Academy Race 1*
6.30am: Chinese GP Qualifying build-up*
7am: CHINESE GP QUALIFYING*
9am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*

Sunday March 15
2.35am: F1 Academy Race 2*
5.30am: Chinese GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
7am: THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX*
9am: Chinese GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
10am: Ted’s Notebook*

*Also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 is in Shanghai for the first Sprint weekend of the 2026 season at the Chinese Grand Prix from this Friday, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime

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