Russell would change rules regarding innovative cooling vest

Having already tried out the all-new cooling vest, Mercedes driver George Russell offered a positive feedback while he also suggested that the limit that defines 'heat hazard' could be slightly reduced in order to make use of the device more often.

Following a hot and humid Qatar Grand Prix in 2023 which saw then-Williams driver Logan Sargeant retire from the race due to a heat stroke, the FIA began investing in new technologies to help drivers cope with extreme conditions.

The governing body came up with a new cooling vest for the 2025 F1 season which uses several metres of tubes which pump cooled fluid around, helping drivers to regulate their body temperature.

However, cooling vests are currently only optional for drivers during the current season, allowing them to choose whether they wish to benefit from the new cooling equipment.

Mercedes driver George Russell has already tried the cooling vest, and while he suggested that it still needs to be developed, it provided an improvement in hot races.

"Yeah. I mean, I feel fortunate that I’ve had the chance to run with the cooling vest. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s definitely an improvement, I feel. Every car is also different – I think every cockpit runs at different temperatures.

"I know we've seen our cockpit getting up to 60 degrees before, and I think the heat hazard is at 31 degrees, I believe, or 30. But when you compound that with the sunlight and the temperature of the cockpit, it is like a sauna in the race car.

He continued: "So yeah, I don’t know. We've not collectively spoken about it, and not everybody's in favour to run it – which is also fine. Somebody made the point recently – like football players on a cold day, some people are wearing gloves, some people have got short sleeve shirts on – and that should be the driver’s choice.

"Maybe the heat hazard should be reduced slightly because we've not yet gone over it. Saudi was hot, Bahrain was hot– maybe it could be adjusted by a few degrees," concluded the Mercedes driver.