George Russell counters Mercedes sandbagging claims: ‘We’ve taken a step back’

George Russell has countered claims that Mercedes has been sandbagging in Bahrain Formula 1 testing, stating that “we’ve taken a step back” since the Barcelona shakedown.

Mercedes entered the 2026 pre-season testing phase leading the bookmakers’ odds to win the world title, while its power unit has been at the centre of a debate over a regulations loophole.

A strong Barcelona shakedown did nothing to diminish this, while Mercedes ended the Bahrain test with the fastest overall lap after Andrea Kimi Antonelli led George Russell on the final day.

That came as a number of its rivals claimed Mercedes has been sandbagging.

Russell says Mercedes worse on pace and reliability since Barcelona shakedown

Speaking after his stint in the car on Friday morning, Russell said Mercedes has “taken a step back” in terms of reliability and performance since the Barcelona shakedown.

“I think this test was needed for us, because Barcelona was very smooth, and probably smoother than we anticipated in terms of reliability, in terms of performance,” he told the official F1 website.

“And we’ve got to Bahrain and, in both regards, we’ve taken a step back.

“We’ve had some reliability issues. Our competitors have hit the ground running, especially Red Bull; they look very strong with the power unit.

“And it was the same on day one of Barcelona, so kudos to them and the amazing job they’ve done. But we need to focus on ourselves and find some more performance.”

On the reliability problems that dogged Mercedes on day two, he added: “For sure, this is what testing is all about, and I think we probably all expected to see a bit more of this, especially in Barcelona.

“But it’s still very early days, we’ve still got another test, a month until Melbourne.

“We’re obviously very focused on performance, but you’ve got to finish a race if you want a result.

“So, being a driver, you’re always focused on performance. A number of team members are focused on reliability and working on that.”

Russell stressed that Mercedes has a “very good car”, but Red Bull has “delivered the best engine” right now.

“I don’t make a huge amount from it, because obviously, that was all because of noise and speculation in the media that we’re going to have the best power unit,” he said of the bookmakers’ placing Mercedes and himself as pre-season favourites.

“The truth is, I think we have a strong power unit, I think we’ve delivered a very good car.

“But, right now, Red Bull seems to have delivered the best engine at the moment.

“We’ve got work to do and we know that history says they have also delivered a pretty decent car over the previous years.

“Of course, we would have wished otherwise, but this is F1 and everyone is pushing the limit.”