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# Podcast: Is Russell F1's most underwhelming pre-season favourite?
- URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/podcast-is-geroge-russell-f1-most-underwhelming-pre-season-favourite/
- Published: 2026-10-14T14:15:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-14T14:15:00.000Z
- Description: George Russell's underwhelming F1 title challenge, Mercedes' upgrade strategy, and whether 'special' helmets are too frequent re all discussed on The Race F1 Podcast
- Author: The Race Team
- Tags: Formula 1, #george-russell, #mercedes, #secondary_feature_3, #no-related-articles

Edd Straw is joined by Glenn Freeman in the latest mailbag episode of The Race F1 Podcast to tackle more of your questions at the end of this Azerbaijan-Malaysia-Singapore triple-header.

Among the selection this time are questions about George Russell's underwhelming title challenge, whether Mercedes' upgrade strategy has hurt it, how we'd improve the sprint format, and if 'special' helmet designs should be restricted.

Want to ask us something on a future mailbag episode? [Join The Race Members' Club](https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheRace/membership?ref=the-race.com) and look out for regular post-race opportunities to submit your questions.