Mercedes has made encouraging progress in understanding its upgraded W17 at the 2026 United States Grand Prix, with Kimi Antonelli finishing second in Friday’s FP2 session, less than a tenth of a second behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. George Russell ended the session fifth, seven tenths off the fastest time, as the team recovered from a difficult opening practice session through significant setup changes.
The improvement represents a positive start to the Austin weekend, particularly considering the problems Mercedes experienced during the previous two Grands Prix following the introduction of its latest upgrade package. Red Bull currently appears to be the favourite, with Ferrari not far behind, but Mercedes also looks capable of fighting for the leading positions. The final practice session will be crucial for refining the car ahead of qualifying, especially at a circuit where starting near the front and racing in clean air can make a significant difference.
There is also an important championship dimension to the weekend. Kimi Antonelli could mathematically secure the Formula 1 drivers’ title in Texas, potentially making history. A strong result will therefore be particularly important for the Italian, who is approaching one of the most significant opportunities of his career.
Kimi Antonelli says Mercedes has made progress understanding W17 upgrades
Kimi Antonelli believes Mercedes is beginning to understand its latest development package more effectively, with both cars now running the same upgraded specification. The championship leader explained that having identical packages allows the team to experiment with different setups and compare the results more accurately.
“Having both cars with the same upgrade package is useful because it allows us to try different configurations and understand this package better. Thanks to the break after Singapore, we were able to analyse the data and gain a better understanding of what this package needs.”
However, Mercedes is still working to identify the operating conditions required to extract the full potential of the new components.
“Nevertheless, we’re still trying to understand how to get the car into the right operating window. We’ve definitely made progress, and we’ll see what we can do to improve further.”
The comments reflect the team’s continuing efforts to understand the relationship between its latest aerodynamic developments and the W17’s overall balance. Although the initial results at Austin have been encouraging, Mercedes has not yet completed the process of optimising its updated package.
Kimi Antonelli reveals moving seat problem during Austin FP2
Despite finishing second, Kimi Antonelli did not enjoy an entirely straightforward session. The Italian revealed that his seat had not been secured correctly at the beginning of FP2, causing it to move during high-speed corners.
“The start of FP2 was a bit difficult because the seat wasn’t secured properly. So on the first lap, it felt like being on a roller coaster, with the seat moving around in the high-speed corners. We lost a bit of time, but it was still a good recovery.”
The problem forced Mercedes to spend additional time in the garage resolving the issue, disrupting the early part of the session. Nevertheless, Kimi Antonelli recovered strongly and eventually finished just behind Charles Leclerc, who set the benchmark in the Ferrari.
“I felt good. I felt better in the car compared to FP1. There’s still a lot of work to do, but it was a good step forward, and now we’ll try to improve further for tomorrow.”
The narrow gap between the two drivers also underlines the competitive nature of Friday’s running, with Charles Leclerc setting the pace in Austin FP2 ahead of Kimi Antonelli as Ferrari demonstrated encouraging speed.
George Russell confirms Mercedes setup changes worked at Austin
George Russell also took encouragement from the improvements achieved between the two practice sessions. Although the British driver finished fifth in FP2, he felt the revised setup had moved the W17 in a much more promising direction.
“It was a useful day on track for us, which allowed us to gain a deeper understanding of our upgrade package. Although the car wasn’t at its best in FP1, we made some good improvements for FP2, moving it firmly in the right direction.”
Nevertheless, George Russell acknowledged that Mercedes still had work to do, particularly given the competitiveness demonstrated by its main rivals.
“There’s still work to do, though, especially considering the strength shown by some of the other teams today.”
The Mercedes driver also explained that his qualifying simulations had not been particularly clean. His final position therefore did not necessarily reflect the maximum performance available from the car.
“I didn’t get the most out of the single laps either. I lost one lap for exceeding track limits, and then I had a big problem in the first sector of the following lap, so there was room for improvement. We’ll work hard overnight and see what we can find for tomorrow.”
Looking at the competitive order, George Russell believes the leading teams are separated by extremely small margins, making execution just as important as finding additional performance.
“As we expected before the weekend, the gaps between the top four teams look very small. To fight for the leading positions, it won’t be enough just to improve the car overnight; we’ll also need to do a good job in qualifying and the race.”
Andrew Shovlin explains Mercedes’ exploratory FP1 and W17 balance problems
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin provided further details about the team’s difficult opening practice session. With the upgrade package installed on both cars, Mercedes deliberately explored a wider range of setups to improve its understanding of the new components.
However, the initial configurations caused significant difficulties with wheel locking, compromising both qualifying simulations and longer runs.
“The first session didn’t go well. We wanted to explore a wider setup window with the upgrade package on both cars, but we had problems with wheel locking. That was a major limitation both on single laps and during race simulations.”
The engineers responded by changing the cars’ setups before the afternoon session, producing an immediate improvement in their behaviour.
“We repositioned the cars before the afternoon session, and that seems to have put us in a better position. We had fewer balance problems, the car was more predictable and, as a result, the lap times improved.”
Andrew Shovlin also expects the battle for pole position to be extremely close, with all four leading teams potentially capable of securing the fastest time.
“Things at the front look very tight. You can’t rule out any of the top four teams having the pace for pole position tomorrow. So we’ll continue analysing what we learned today and see whether we can find further improvements overnight.”
Bradley Lord identifies tyre management as crucial for Mercedes at Austin
Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord confirmed that neither Kimi Antonelli nor George Russell had been satisfied with the W17’s handling during FP1. The team therefore made further adjustments during the break between sessions, focusing particularly on how the car rotated through corners.
“We made some changes during the break. And both drivers came back after their first lap saying that the car was rotating and that they could get through the corners without having to use too much throttle and overheat the rear tyres.”
The improvements were visible in the lap times during FP2, providing reassurance that Mercedes had moved closer to a suitable setup.
“We made a decent step forward. Hopefully there will be further positive developments overnight, but for now things look much more solid.”
However, Bradley Lord emphasised that achieving a competitive qualifying result would represent only part of the challenge. Managing the tyres throughout the race could prove equally important, particularly given the demands of the final sector at the Circuit of The Americas.
“Looking after the tyres will be absolutely fundamental. If you can keep the rear tyres in good condition and get them working well in the third sector, then all the possible strategies open up.”
The team’s race simulations will therefore play an important role in determining its strategic options for Sunday. The engineers will need to understand how the different compounds perform over longer runs and how effectively the W17 can preserve its rear tyres.
“We’ll let the strategists analyse the data after the long runs and see how the tyres behave. And then we’ll understand a little better where we need to go on Sunday.”
Mercedes expects close fight with Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren
Bradley Lord also offered an assessment of the competitive picture after the opening day of running, highlighting how little appeared to separate the leading teams on race pace.
“We were looking at the overlays of the race simulations. And you have to squint to notice any significant differences between Leclerc, Verstappen, Kimi and Norris, who looks very strong. So it’s going to be a very close battle between all eight cars.”
According to the Mercedes deputy team principal, the margins on a single lap are similarly small, making the final preparation work particularly important.
“It’s a tenth and a half, a tenth here and there. So it’s going to be a really close and exciting race.”
The developments achieved between FP1 and FP2 have given Mercedes renewed encouragement after the difficulties of recent weekends. However, the team remains aware that Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren are all capable of challenging for the leading positions at Austin.
With Kimi Antonelli fighting for the world championship and George Russell seeking to recover further performance, Mercedes faces a crucial final practice session before qualifying. The next challenge will be translating Friday’s better understanding of the W17 into competitive results across the remainder of the United States Grand Prix weekend.
Leave a Reply