George Russell has finished his first day of running in Barcelona, and has left the track encouraged by his Mercedes machinery.
Formula 1 is enjoying a week of private testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and while it’s mostly being done behind closed doors, the Mercedes crew has revealed its verdict after the first Monday shakedown. This comes as the championship’s 11 teams fight to ready themselves for the start of the season – the first with a set of new regulations.
This week is an opportunity for the teams to test their cars after a period of simulation and wind tunnel work. Although with mileage limited quite substantially, it’s a reliability, stress and correlation test more than anything.
“It’s great to be back out on track driving an F1 car once again!” Russell said in a press release from the team. “The cars looked really cool out on the circuit and that’s positive for our sport. They are quite different for us as drivers but, once you get your head around it, driving them is quite intuitive. It’s enjoyable being behind-the-wheel and I think there’s a lot for fans to look forward to with these new regulations.
2026 F1 Regulation Change Roundup
- Power units: 50/50 split between internal combustion and electric power, with fully sustainable fuel.
- Active aero: Moveable front and rear aero modes to balance efficiency on straights and downforce in corners.
- Smaller cars: Shorter, narrower and lighter chassis to improve agility and racing.
- Energy use: Greater reliance on energy recovery/deployment management, with new limits to prevent battery harvesting on long straights.
“We are pleased with our day, but I’ve also been impressed by several other teams too. The Red Bull power unit has completed a lot of laps which, given that it’s their first engine they’ve built, means they’ve clearly done a good job. Haas also managed a similar amount of running to ourselves, so the Ferrari power unit has also put together plenty of mileage. It’s not quite how it was in 2014! The sport has evolved so much since then and the level, in every single aspect, is so high now.”
Antonelli, Russell’s young Italian team-mate added: “It was nice to be back in the car this morning and, more importantly, we’ve had a productive first day here in Barcelona. There is lots for us to learn with these new machines so it’s important that we complete as much mileage as we can and build our knowledge. The team at Brackley and Brixworth have done a great job to get us to this position, developing and building a car that has been able to complete over 150 laps on its first proper day of running.
“It is early days though. There will be things we discover in the coming days that we can improve but that is the point of testing. For now, though, the package overall feels good, and we will look to build on this start over the following two days of running we’re allowed here in Barcelona.”
Andrew Shovlin, trackside engineering director for the team, was happy with the results.
“The main thing we are looking for in the early running of any new car is to make sure we can get plenty of laps in. That enables us to get into the learning of our programme in subsequent days. Today was all about understanding the car, therefore, making sure it stabilised at the correct temperatures, and ensure we could do our long runs. It is positive that we were able to achieve that.
“It has been a monumental project to get this car ready both on the chassis and Power Unit side; at Brixworth they have been working on this for years. We don’t know where we stand in terms of performance, but we’ve proved we are able to keep the car out on the track and that is testament to the hard work of everyone at both our factories.”
The Brackley outfit will continue its three days of permitted testing in Barcelona before heading to Bahrain in February for its public testing in front of the cameras.