Mercedes experienced engine problems during the second day of pre-season Formula 1 testing at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain, causing a significant delay to the team’s planned program. After encouraging reliability feedback from their Barcelona tests, the Power Unit developed in Brixworth has started to show difficulties during these sessions. The engine issue forced Mercedes to miss nearly the entire second day of running in Bahrain, leaving the team behind schedule with its testing program.
Kimi Antonelli was the most affected, spending almost the entire morning confined to the garage. George Russell was able to take to the track in the afternoon, but only several minutes after the green light signaled the start of the session. By now, the team has already lost several hours in this second phase of winter testing, a situation far from ideal for a team aiming to prepare thoroughly for the upcoming season.
Meanwhile, warning signs are also emerging from Alpine, which encountered an issue with its Power Unit. Both teams effectively had to install a completely new unit to resolve the problem, further highlighting the challenges teams face in the early stages of testing.
Mercedes remains in the garage during the second day of testing
An engine problem severely disrupted Mercedes’ activity program in Bahrain. Kimi Antonelli was able to complete only three laps during the four-hour morning session. George Russell, on the other hand, managed to complete 54 laps in the afternoon, but this number remains extremely low compared to direct competitors such as Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull.
“We had to face another frustrating day here in Bahrain. Kimi lost the entire morning session after we detected a problem with the Power Unit; replacing the entire unit was faster than changing the affected component, but unfortunately, we didn’t manage to get back on track until George was able to drive an hour into the afternoon session,” explained Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ trackside engineering director.
At this stage, the team had intended to focus on setup studies and understanding the performance of the new W17 car. The time lost today has generated delays in their understanding of the car, which is scheduled to make its competitive debut on March 8 at the first Grand Prix of the 2026 season in Melbourne.
“After yesterday’s problems, we are still behind on setup work, but at least we managed to get the car out on track within a reasonable time frame by the end of the day. Tomorrow we will focus on trying to recover the lost laps. George will be at the wheel in the morning and Kimi in the afternoon, and we hope to finish the week with a solid and uninterrupted day. There are some performance issues that we need to resolve, and we hope to make further progress ahead of the second test next week,” Andrew Shovlin added.
Overall, this setback places additional pressure on the final day of the first test. As Shovlin noted, the W17 is still in an “evolutionary” setup phase, and without a clean run tomorrow, the team risks heading to the second test with more questions than answers. For a team used to setting the benchmark for reliability, this “frustrating day” in Sakhir is a wake-up call that the 2026 engine race is going to be a battle of attrition.
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