Russell urges FIA help with cooling vests as Mercedes goes without

George Russell wants FIA help with cooling vests after saying Mercedes will not use one at the race weekend in Malaysia because its system is not reliable enough.

GPBeat · Newsroom03 Oct 2026, 15:19 · 1 min

In an interview with The Times quoted by Autosport on 3 October, Russell said Mercedes had not put the resources into making its cooling-vest system reliable enough to use. The Mercedes driver would like to wear one at the race weekend in Malaysia and the following weekend in Singapore, but said developing the system would come at a cost to car performance. He suggested that the FIA could allow extra spending under Formula 1’s cost cap or arrange for an external supplier to develop equipment for every team.

Autosport reports that the FIA declares a heat hazard when the forecast temperature for an on-track session exceeds 31°C. Cooling vests remain optional during those weekends, but a driver who goes without one must carry an additional 0.5kg of ballast. The FIA had initially intended to make the vests compulsory, Autosport says, before driver dissatisfaction with the standard version contributed to the optional arrangement.

Autosport describes the current disagreement as centred on driver comfort, though heat has caused more serious problems before: several drivers experienced symptoms of heat exhaustion at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.

Source context

Autosport’s 3 October report quotes Russell’s interview with The Times and explains the heat-hazard and cooling-vest arrangements.

Claims and supporting evidence 5

Autosport, citing The Times, reports that Mercedes driver George Russell wants the FIA to allow extra cost-cap spending or arrange a common external supplier for cooling vests. His view that everyone should wear one is a request, not an announced FIA rule change.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Russell’s attributed position on cooling vests 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend in Malaysia The Times interview itself was not supplied.

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According to Russell’s remarks as relayed by Autosport, he would like to wear a cooling vest at the Malaysia and Singapore race weekends, but Mercedes has not allocated the resources to make its system sufficiently robust; he describes development as coming at a performance cost.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Russell’s account of Mercedes’ resource trade-off The Malaysia race weekend and the following Singapore weekend in October 2026 This is Russell’s account of the team’s decision, not a separately supplied statement from Mercedes.

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Autosport says the FIA declares a heat hazard at the start of a Grand Prix weekend when the predicted ambient temperature for an on-track session exceeds 31°C. It identifies the Malaysia-held Bahrain Grand Prix as the third such weekend of the 2026 season; a fourth in Singapore is presented as likely, not confirmed.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Autosport’s account of the heat-hazard threshold 2026 season, as reported on 3 October 2026 The threshold and season count come from Autosport; the underlying FIA documentation was not supplied.

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Autosport reports that cooling vests remain optional during a declared heat hazard. A driver who does not wear one must instead add the corresponding 0.5 kg of ballast to the car. Autosport says the FIA had initially intended mandatory use, but drivers’ dissatisfaction with the standard vest contributed to the optional arrangement.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Autosport’s account of the cooling-vest arrangement Arrangement described for the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix weekend No independently retrieved FIA regulation or driver statements were supplied.

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Autosport characterises the present dispute as concerning comfort rather than outright safety, while also reporting that several drivers experienced heat-exhaustion symptoms at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. Its present-day characterisation does not establish that heat exposure poses no safety risk.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Heat-related context and limits of Autosport’s interpretation 2023 Qatar Grand Prix and Autosport’s assessment on 3 October 2026 No medical assessment or independent safety finding was supplied.

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This article was produced with AI assistance. Source references make its supporting evidence traceable.