The Mercedes F1 team looks to be flexing its muscles as the covers are slowly pulled off this year’s new technical era. 2026 is a big jump for Formula 1, with substantially new powertrains, aerodynamics and chassis. And while we know very little of how the grid will stack up, this week’s private Barcelona testing looks to be in the hands of the Brackley outfit.
Early shakedown sessions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya suggest that Mercedes has landed on its feet after a difficult time in the ground effect era. The doors may be closed to the data currently being digested by the paddock, but early reports are looking like the W17 is emerging as the clear contender this season.
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli have been putting down serious mileage in what seems to be a reliable and quick machine. On day three alone, Antonelli put down a lap time of 1:17.382, a whole two tenths faster than his experienced team-mate and much faster than anyone else.
Reports suggest that Mercedes has won the powertrain war already, with its new 50:50 internal combustion to electric energy power unit able to deploy its power far more efficiently than other teams. Of course, this same power unit can be found in the McLaren, Alpine and Williams, but Mercedes looks to have packaged it expertly.
Barcelona Test: The Key Numbers So Far
- 1.1s: The massive performance gap between Mercedes and the rest of the grid.
- 973km: Total distance logged by Mercedes engines
- 350kW: The massive new electrical target; telemetry suggests Mercedes has the most efficient deployment
- Zero: Laps completed by Williams, putting them weeks behind in data collection.
- 18:1: The rumored “loophole” compression ratio giving Mercedes a 0.4s engine advantage.
- 1,100km: The data deficit Red Bull now faces after sitting out Day 4 with no spare parts.
Plus, with the powertrain being run by three teams, it’s racked up 973km of data, the highest of any power unit manufacturer.
Red Bull, in comparison, is struggling. A crash from its new driver Isack Hadjar on Tuesday meant it’s reportedly running low on spares for the RB22, meaning important time on track was lost. And Williams, the Grove outfit who had high expectations for this year, has completely missed out on the test. Its car has now passed the crash tests, but is expected to be overweight.
Audi has struggled with a number of technical gremlins, while Mercedes Trackside Engineer Director Andrew Shovlin tells the media his car has run “faultlessly”, in what seems to be a message to the rest of the grid.
“Mileage, we’re a bit ahead of where we hoped to be. So that’s good,” he told F1 themselves.
“You normally expect to have a few teething problems, the odd reliability thing that costs you track time.
“Today, the car worked faultlessly. We’re actually losing more track time from other people breaking down and causing red flags than for anything on our side. So that’s good.”
He continued: “In terms of data gathered, we’re getting there, but as all the electrical systems are new, there’s still quite a few issues that we’re bottoming out with collecting the data and making sure everything’s as accurate as we normally have it.
“But as I said, we had a long list of objectives and if anything we’re slightly ahead of where we expected to be on Day Two.”
On the response from his drivers, the Briton admits that they’re both happy with what they’re currently feeling under their feet.
“It’s a nicer thing to drive than the previous regulations. It’s a bit lighter. It turns quite nicely for them. We’ve got a decent balance, low and high speed.
“But ultimately, whether they’re happy or not will come down to whether they’re quick or not. And I think we’ll start to see what people can do maybe on that final day.
“But you know, realistically that work is going to push into Bahrain.”