George Russell insists the season-opening Australian Grand Prix won't define him in a year when he enters unchartered territory as Formula One's championship favourite.
Mercedes' mix of power and reliability are expected to put Russell among the leading contenders, and the 28-year-old Brit acknowledges the rising expectation.
But amid the biggest overhaul of regulations in the sport's history, Russell expects any number of hurdles could flip the series on its head throughout a long campaign.
At Albert Park on Thursday, he noted when F1 last made significant changes Ferrari were fastest out of the blocks in 2022 before Red Bull easily triumphed in both the constructors' and drivers' championships.
"The mentality for us, regardless of if we have a successful weekend or a difficult weekend, is that Melbourne won't define the season," Russell said.
"If we want to win we need to keep on pushing and we're ready to do that."
Mercedes showed promise in testing and look set to feature as part of the "big four" again in 2026 - alongside Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren - but were notably sluggish off the line.
"There's a lot of discussions around race starts, it's a challenging topic," Russell said.
"There's a lot of hurdles. I think you can get tripped up by any small error so there's no time to relax during a race, during qualifying.
"Pit stops, things that once were quite straightforward parts of racing, are now quite complicated."
Russell enters his eighth F1 campaign - his fifth with Mercedes - under an intense spotlight but also with high hopes alongside second-year teammate Kimi Antonelli.
Morale in the camp is strong, which Russell says is largely down to his car performing largely as expected.
"We put it on the ground and both Kimi (Antonelli) and I were happy with how it was handling," Russell said.
"The engine looks strong. I think we've been surprised with our competitors, how strong their power units have been, but the package looks good.
"That is probably the biggest reason why the morale is high and you need that at the start of any new regulations to build upon."
Russell is aiming to become the first Mercedes driver to win the championship since Lewis Hamilton - now with Ferrari - claimed the last of his four consecutive titles in 2020.
He dismissed his championship favouritism, saying it "doesn't change anything" when the lights go out.
"There's a lot of chat around us, Mercedes, and you take it as a compliment I guess," Russell said.
"However, once the helmet's on and visor's down, you're just flat-out and you don't really think about any of this additional noise.
"You just take it race by race and see how you go."
