Formula 1 Barcelona-Catalunya Pre-Season Testing

Why Karun Chandhok believes George Russell can win the 2026 F1 drivers' title

Karun Chandhok believes George Russell is the favourite for the 2026 F1 title, arguing Mercedes' works-team integration could pay off under the new regulations

Karun Chandhok has backed George Russell to become the 2026 Formula 1 drivers' champion.

2026 brings in a new set of regulations to the championship, effectively levelling the playing field. While Red Bull, and then later McLaren, dominated the ground effect era from 2022 to the end of 2025, there is no way of knowing how each team will compare in the upcoming season.

When choosing a driver to back for the 2026 drivers' title, Chandhok pointed to Mercedes and Ferrari being the longest-standing works teams on the grid.

"What we're hearing from a lot of the drivers is the word systems. I think this year having a team from a chassis and power unit side as an integrated operation, which really it's Mercedes, Audi, Ferrari and Red Bull, of which I think two of them have the excuse of being newbies - Audi and Red Bull," he told Sky Sports F1.

"So I think for Ferrari and Mercedes, there's no real excuses because they are the works teams.

"And although in terms of hardware, by regulation, McLaren and the other customers have to get the same power units as the works Mercedes team, I just think having both sides talking to each other so much more in an integrated way has to be an advantage in the early stage of this power unit regulation. And to me, that puts George as the favourite for the season."

The new regulations introduce a 50:50 split between internal combustion engine and electric power as well as smaller and lighter cars and active aerodynamics, which replace the DRS previously used, among many other changes.

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

With Mercedes' success in the previous hybrid era from 2014 to 2021, many have pointed to the Brackley outfit as favourites for the season ahead. Team principal and CEO Toto Wolff has a more 'pessimistic' approach.

"Well, I would very much hope so. But I'm a notorious pessimist, and the glass is always half empty rather than half full," he explained during a Mercedes debrief video.

"And we've set ourselves targets on the power unit and the same on the chassis. Whether those targets were ambitious enough, whether we have missed the trick... whether our execution is going to be as faultless as it should be? I don't know.

"We're going to see some glimpses of performance balance in testing late in January and then in Bahrain. But I think the name of the game is going to be the constant development of the tools throughout the season."