All eyes on George Russell and Mercedes as new Formula 1 season gets under way

Dubai: No matter how you try to spin this, the 2026 Formula 1 season is going to be unlike anything anyone has ever seen before. Of course, the new rules have only added to the game of smoke and mirrors, but even beyond that, there’s the element of the unknown and the unpredictable about how things are going to play out amid all the uncertainty around.

For all the pre-season testing, the finger-pointing, the accusations of ‘sandbagging’ and loopholes in the new regulations, the guessing games have left us nowhere closer to predicting how the 24-race season will pan out.

But having said that, the champion will most certainly come from one of four teams, the usual suspects of McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.

And that is no disrespect to the other seven teams including newcomers Cadillac and Audi.

The major overhaul to chassis and power units, designed to create more overtaking opportunities and improve the sport’s eco-sustainability, have dominated the pre-season testing.

And the smoke will begin to lift on the true force of each car when they take to the track at Albert Park for the Australian Grand Prix, starting with free practice on Friday, qualifying on Saturday and the first race of the season on Sunday.

Only then will we get an idea of whether McLaren’s Lando Norris will be in pole position to retain the world title he won so dramatically from Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi last season.

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The pit lane talk, though, has been hanging the favourite’s tag around the neck of George Russell as Mercedes are rumoured to have made the best of the rule changes.

That may depend, however, on whether they have indeed exploited a loophole in the new rules, as many are claiming, which could give them as much as 0.3 seconds per lap over their rivals.

That, by Formula 1 standards, is a ginormous margin of advantage.

While Russell believes being considered favourite is a compliment, the Mercedes star is also adamant that anything can happen in a 24-race season.

“It doesn’t change anything. I think there’s a lot of chat around us and Mercedes. And take it as a compliment, I guess,” said Russell.

“You know, once the helmet’s on you’re just flat out and you don’t really think about any of this additional noise. So just taking it race by race and see how we go.”

The British driver added: “No matter how this weekend goes, it is a 24-race season, it is very demanding on everybody.”

Demanding or not, for Norris, his tense world title triumph last year has made him hungrier than ever to win another, with the McLaren ace having no concerns about being the hunted rather than the hunter.

And while Mercedes and Red Bull are seen as the narrow frontrunners, Norris is not worried.

“I don’t think we’re starting on the back foot. You know, even if you’re second, third or fourth quickest, I don’t think that’s on the back foot,” he said.

“I think that’s still a very good position to start. And I think in previous years, where it’s been harder to improve over the course of a season, we’ve certainly proved that you could.

“And I continue to believe that. It’s a long, very long season.”

Asked how winning the title has made him want to experience the euphoria again, Norris said, “I’m still just as hungry.

“You get that feeling the same as when you win one race, you want another one, for me, it was the same feeling with the championship — that one is amazing, but then you definitely want to achieve two.

“But honestly, when you get on track you’re not either (the hunted or the hunter).

“You certainly don’t think ‘I’m the hunted now’, and something changes.”

As for Verstappen, who nearly hunted down Norris in Abu Dhabi last season, it is an exciting new challenge, despite having been there and done that.

“It has felt like a long build-up to this point and it is exciting to finally get out racing again,” the four-time world champion said.

“But this year will be a particularly exciting challenge and I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes.”

The Dutchman’s bitter 2021 rival Lewis Hamilton vowed there will be “no holding back” in his 20th season as he bids to improve on a thoroughly disappointing debut year with Ferrari.

“I’m grateful for the doubters and for the ones who tried to knock me down, too. I’m still here, 20 years on, still standing, still hungry, still focused on the dream. No holding back,” the seven-time world champion said.

And while his rejuvenated Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc rejoins the F1 bandwagon after marriage to his long-time girlfriend, Adrian Newey’s partnership with Aston Martin already seems to be going south, with his drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll fearing permanent nerve damage from extreme vibration in their cars and unlikely to complete the Australian Grand Prix.

The build-up to the new season has been chaotic to say the least and one can expect more of that right at the start, when the five lights go out at Albert Park this Sunday.