Mercedes Formula 1 driver George Russell caused a stir in some quarters by appearing to suggest the FIA should protect teams against themselves by ensuring cooling vests are commonly used in hot races.
Driver comfort in hot climates has been a topic since the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, when several drivers experienced heat exhaustion symptoms during the Doha race, which was held October before being moved to a more reasonable December climate.
In response, the FIA and all F1 teams conducted research to improve the venting and cooling of drivers in such extreme conditions. The end result was a cooling vest that circulates water through a tube system, which drivers can use in extreme conditions.
The FIA declares a so-called “heat hazard” at the start of a grand prix weekend when ambient temperatures for an on-track session are predicted to exceed 31C.
This weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, exceptionally held in Malaysia, is the third such heat hazard of the 2026 season, with a fourth one likely following next weekend in nearby Singapore.
It prompted Russell to reveal that he would prefer to use a bespoke cooling solution, but that his Mercedes team had decided against developing one.
Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari, puts on a cooling vest in the garage
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“We won’t be running the cooling vest because we haven’t put the resource into making it robust enough,” Russell told The Times in Kuala Lumpur.
“When it works, it works great. So, I would like to wear it this week, and I would like to wear it next week. But the team asked me…’look, we can develop it, and we can put the money towards it [but at the cost of performance]’.”
That’s why Russell called on the FIA to get involved again and effectively protect teams against themselves: “I feel we need the FIA just to step in and say, ‘Here’s some money extra in the cost cap,’ or there’s an external company who’s going to develop it for everybody, you just put the money towards it. Because we should all be wearing it.”
In some quarters the story has been construed as Russell going against his team or being forced to suffer in the heat by his engineers, but the real story is slightly more prosaic.
Initially, the FIA did intend to make the use of cooling vests mandatory when a heat hazard is declared, but the standard vest wasn’t particularly popular with drivers, with many feeling the vest only provided a benefit for a handful of laps before becoming more of a hindrance than a help. As a result, the vest is still optional, with drivers who don’t use it instead being forced to add the corresponding 0.5kg of ballast to the car.
Teams are free to develop their own solution within a certain framework to improve the system’s cooling efficiency and ergonomics. But with a heat hazard only declared a limited number of times per season, the majority of teams don’t feel it is worth the engineering resources when such conditions are rare, and haven’t been as extreme as they were in Qatar 2023.
Logan Sargeant, Williams Racing
Photo by: Williams F1
So, with a mandatory system almost universally dismissed by the drivers, the FIA has been happy to keep it optional and let teams make their own decisions. There doesn’t appear to be much of an appetite to restart the whole debate.
As Russell mentioned in his explanation, any extra financial and human resources poured into sporadically used vests would not be spent on improving the performance of his W17 car.
So, as Mercedes battles to stay ahead of the pack against advances from McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari, and the issue revolves around comfort rather than outright safety concerns at this stage, it is clear where the priority is.
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