Russell tips former teammate Hamilton to master F1 2026’s hottest talking points

Race starts have been one of the major talking points to emerge from the Bahrain tests, with the new generation of cars — as shown by several onboard clips — taking noticeably longer to reach the ideal rev range before the clutch can be released and the car can launch.

Without the MGU-H, the turbo now needs more time to spool up into its effective operating window, inevitably stretching out the entire start procedure.

For Russell, who spoke with GPblog among other media, that could play into Ferrari’s hands, given the layout of its turbo: “I think Ferrari seem to be able to run higher gears than other manufacturers, which probably suggests they’ve got a smaller turbo than the others.

Despite the Scuderia have quietly emerged as a convincing package so far, particularly when it comes to power unit reliability, much of the attention has been directed elsewhere, with Red Bull and Mercedes dominating the headlines as the two teams continue to spar over who holds the early upper hand.

For Frederic Vasseur, that relative lack of spotlight is exactly where Ferrari want to be. Speaking to GPblog among other media, the team principal made it clear he is more than happy to fly under the radar, describing it as a “mega good” situation that allows Ferrari to stay focused on its own work without outside noise.