Mercedes strengthens confidence on Day 5 with tire focus and qualifying simulations
Mercedes wrapped up the fifth of six days on track in Bahrain, reinforcing its understanding of the car’s potential. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli together completed a total of 157 laps. While Team Principal Toto Wolff addressed the recent power unit situation in a press conference following yesterday’s F1 Commission decision, on track the three-pointed star proved to be solid and fast. On Day 5, Kimi Antonelli set the fastest time of the session, simulating qualifying conditions, although the exact performance level Mercedes reached remains unknown.
Antonelli: “We are recovering the time lost in the first session. Among the top teams, it’s a matter of hundredths of a second”
Although it is difficult to predict prospects before the Australian Grand Prix, just one day away from the end of testing in Bahrain, Mercedes’ position appears significantly improved compared to a few months ago. Toto Wolff openly confirmed this to the press, while staying within the usual group of the top four teams, and the on-track performance seems to back it up. On Day 5 at Sakhir, Mercedes came close to 160 laps, with George Russell starting the morning session before handing the W17 over to Kimi Antonelli, who completed the day’s program. The Italian driver set the fastest time of the day (and session) at 1’32”803 on C3 tires.
“We continue to recover after the time lost during the first test here in Bahrain,” Kimi Antonelli said after the track session. “This was our objective during the final pre-season test, and we hope to make the most of tomorrow as well. With only one more day in the car before heading to Melbourne, every lap counts.”
Kimi Antonelli added that everything planned for the day was successfully completed. “Our program today included a lot of preparation work along with some single laps. We managed to complete everything we had planned and finish the day in first place.” While the performance is impressive, establishing a clear ranking among the top teams is still premature. “Even though this is positive, the gaps among the frontrunners are already incredibly small and today they shrank to mere hundredths of a second. We will continue to push hard, aim to finish this test strongly, and hope to be close to the fight for the top in Australia’s opening race.”
Russell: “We still have a packed program for the final day”
George Russell echoed a similar sentiment, completing 77 of the 157 laps during the morning session. “After a solid opening day yesterday, we had another productive morning session,” the British driver said. “Once again, our program was not necessarily focused on outright performance, but on understanding our updates and, even more importantly, the W17. We achieved that by completing more laps than anyone else in the morning session.”
The goal for the final day is to have another consistent session like today to gather the last necessary data before flying to Australia for the first official race weekend of 2026. “We now have one final day on track before departing for Melbourne,” Russell continued. “Even though we have made up for lost time from the first test, we still have a very full program tomorrow. I’m looking forward to getting back in the car in the afternoon and focusing on helping the team leave Bahrain in the strongest position possible. Once again, we’ve seen impressive single-lap and long-run work from our rivals, so adding more mileage on Friday is very important.”
Shovlin: “Focus on C3 tire setup. With Kimi, we simulated qualifying conditions”
Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director, also emphasized the importance of completing the program without interruptions. “We had another good day on track, completing 157 laps without issues. This helped us recover from last week’s interruptions. We continued splitting our sessions: George in the morning and Kimi in the fresher evening conditions.”
One of the main focuses of the day was tire work. “Despite different conditions, the program for both drivers primarily focused on C3 tire setup. We managed to carry out several tests that are useful as we build our understanding of the W17 and the 2026 Pirellis.”
Regarding Antonelli’s fastest time in the afternoon, Shovlin added: “Since it was Kimi’s last evening session, we reduced fuel levels toward the end of the day, under conditions closest to what we’ll see here in qualifying in a few weeks. This provided useful learning and showed how competitive the front of the grid already is. We hope for another solid day tomorrow to complete pre-season testing before heading to Melbourne.”
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