Russell urges FIA help with cooling vests as Mercedes goes without

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.