Mercedes driver George Russell has accused Ferrari of being “selfish” and “a bit stupid” for blocking the FIA from changing Formula 1’s starting procedure for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Russell won Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix with team-mate Kimi Antonelli after locking out the front row in a one-two at the checkered flag, but both had to recover from losing places at the start.
The reason for the delay, Russell said, was that the two drivers and several other drivers ran low on battery power after the formation lap due to a rule that put drivers who qualified in the first half of the grid at a disadvantage.
Russell says the sport’s governing body, the FIA, wants to change the rules to address the issue, but claims Ferrari, which got off to a strong start in Melbourne with Charles Leclerc leading the way and Lewis Hamilton taking off, are not willing to provide the “super majority” needed to push through the changes.
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Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari rocket start at the start of the Australian Grand Prix
“Unfortunately, when you’re trying to make changes for the benefit of the sport, and the team is competitive, like Ferrari at the moment the race started, sometimes the team doesn’t want anything to change,” Russell told Sky Sports F1.
“I think half the grid got caught up in something weird about the rules for the start of the race in Melbourne. We already knew that, but there was some resistance to change from some teams, so we just need to work around that.”
Speaking to written media in Shanghai early on Thursday, Russell accused Ferrari of being “selfish” and “a bit stupid”.
He said: “The FIA was looking at the possibility of adjusting it (the start procedure) and as you can imagine, some teams who had had a good start didn’t want that. I think that’s a bit ridiculous. I’m not overly concerned, but it’s definitely a challenge.”
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George Russell believes Mercedes have the fastest car but admits he will be cautious about upgrading other teams this season
Asked to clarify whether the FIA wanted to change the rules, Russell added: “They could. They would like to, but they need a super majority from the teams and they don’t have that. So you can probably guess which teams are against it.”
“I don’t think they will benefit from this problem. All teams understand the problem now so we just work around it. But it’s just creating a bit of unnecessary complexity for something that really doesn’t need to be there. In Melbourne half the grid was disrupted. We’re going to adjust. We know what to watch out for now.”
“The FIA just wanted to make our lives easier and remove this harvest restriction, but as often happens, people have a selfish mindset and want to do what’s best for themselves. And that’s part of F1, part of the challenge of F1. We’ll deal with it, and I think we’ll have a much better start here.”
What are the controversial rules?
The controversy comes as the sport is adjusting both new power units and chassis for the 2026 season following the biggest regulation changes in F1 history.
New power units rely on more electrical energy than their predecessors, making energy management the most important factor for performance in the early stages of regulation.
Russell explained, “I think we made some mistakes that forced a lot of teams out because we were at the limit of our gains on the formation lap.”
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Join Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc as they get off to a great start in Australia
“It’s a very strange rule… there’s a harvest limit on each lap. Drivers who started earlier on the grid were over the timeline, but they were already within that lap. So when you do a formation lap start, you’re draining your battery and recharging your battery towards the harvest limit.”
“For the drivers behind you, when you start the formation lap, once you start and cross the start-finish line, you are effectively doing the next lap, so it resets.
“So, based on what I did at the practice start, I started in front of this line to reset it. Then at the race start, I started from pole position, throttled up and charged the battery, but I used about 50 percent of my yield limit for that lap. So about half way around the track, I couldn’t charge the battery anymore and didn’t have the power to do a proper burnout.
Hamilton: I can’t keep up with the group chat.
Before Russell’s accusations, Hamilton said he thought the starting procedure was “exciting to watch” and would improve over time.
Asked if there had been any discussion between the drivers, Hamilton said: “Obviously there was a group chat, but I haven’t kept up with the group chat.” “So I don’t really understand what they’re saying.”
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Lewis Hamilton thinks it will be difficult to beat Mercedes’ pace at this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix
“I’m not really interested in group chats because you’re always updating me.
“It’s exciting to watch, but I think it’s still the first race, so I think it’s inevitable that there will be problems along the way. But I think it’s going to get better and better.”
Sky Sports F1 China GP Schedule
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A look back at the wildest moments captured on camera at the Chinese Grand Prix
Friday, March 13th
1:05am: F1 Academy practice
3:00am: Chinese GP Practice (session starts at 3:30am)*
5:30am: Team boss press conference*
6am: F1 Academy Qualifying*
6:45am: Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 7:30am)*
Saturday, March 14th
2:25am: Chinese GP sprint build-up*
3am: Chinese GP Sprint*
4.30am: Ted’s Sprint Notes*
5:30am: F1 Academy Race 1*
6:30am: Chinese GP qualifying build-up*
7am: Chinese GP Qualifying*
9am: Ted’s Qualification Notebook*
Sunday March 15th
2:35am: F1 Academy Race 2*
5:30am: Preparation for Chinese Grand Prix: Grand Prix Sunday*
7am: Chinese Grand Prix*
9am: Chinese GP reaction: Checkered flag*
10am: Ted’s Notes*
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
F1 will hold its first sprint weekend of the 2026 season in Shanghai starting this Friday with the Chinese Grand Prix, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
