George Russell called Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc “mega dangerous” in untelevised team radio during the Australian Grand Prix on March 8.
He also told the FIA that F1’s new Straight Line Mode needs to be changed before it causes a serious incident.
Russell, who won the season opener at Albert Park ahead of Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli and Leclerc, complained repeatedly about the Ferraris’ aggressive defensive positioning on the circuit’s high-speed straights. The radio messages were not broadcast during the world feed but were reported by PlanetF1.
In the post-race press conference, Russell, who also serves as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), linked his criticism to the 2026 active aerodynamic package.
Straight Line Mode (SLM) is the low-drag setting that reduces wing load on both the front and rear to boost top speed, part of the new system that replaces DRS with movable flaps on both wings.
Russell argued the front wing sheds too much downforce when SLM is activated, creating dangerous understeer when a trailing driver pulls out of a slipstream to pass.
“The only thing I would request from the FIA is that with the Straight Mode, the front wing doesn’t drop as aggressively,” Russell said.
“When we open Straight Mode, we will have lots of understeer, and when I was behind Charles, and I was trying to duck out of his slipstream, it was like my front wing wasn’t working. I think from a safety aspect, that would make the racing safer, better.”
Leclerc acknowledges unpredictable closing speeds
Leclerc, who finished third, did not directly address Russell’s criticism but described the overtaking dynamic as unpredictable. “You don’t really know when your engine, your battery is going to cut in the straight, so while defending there’s massive speed differences,” Leclerc said.
Williams’ driver Carlos Sainz called SLM “dangerous” and described it as a fix to mask energy deployment issues in the new 50/50 split between combustion and electrical power.
Zone 4 controversy set the tone before the race
The FIA had already faced pressure over SLM during the weekend. On Saturday morning, FIA Single-Seater Director Nikolas Tombazis removed the activation zone between Turns 8 and 9, known as Zone 4, after drivers warned on Friday night that the curved section was too fast to safely run with reduced downforce.
Within 90 minutes, several teams had protested, arguing the change would invalidate their Friday data from practice and disrupt their energy harvesting strategy. The FIA reversed course before FP3.
Tombazis admitted the governing body had underestimated how much downforce some cars were losing: “This is new information for us, and for some of the cars that is quite a big downforce reduction, more than we had perhaps envisaged.”
The FIA is expected to review SLM settings, including Russell’s front wing request, ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday (March 15).
