Mercedes behind the scenes: W17 runs at Silverstone with a different objective compared to Ferrari
Last Friday at Silverstone was not only the day of Doriane Pin’s first experience in a Formula 1 car. The young French driver, supported by Mercedes in her development path, completed 76 laps at the wheel of the 2021 W12, describing her debut as—understandably—“incredible.” It was a symbolic moment that attracted significant media attention and placed the spotlight on one of the most promising talents in the Mercedes junior programme, fresh off her F1 Academy title and now also involved in development work for the future W17.
Second filming day of the season at Silverstone for Antonelli and Russell
However, while cameras and attention were focused on that first taste of Formula 1, something more significant was happening inside the Mercedes garage. The Anglo-German team, away from the main spotlight, used the Silverstone day to carry out a much more important programme, as more than one car was running on track. Alongside Pin’s activity, George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli were also present, taking part in the team’s second filming day of the season.
The two drivers alternated at the wheel of the W17, covering the full 200 kilometres allowed by the regulations—100 each—within a very structured programme that, in some ways, contrasted with what other top teams have done. This marked Mercedes’ second filming day of 2026, after the first one also held at Silverstone before the start of the championship, which effectively acted as a shakedown for the new car. A car that, it is worth remembering, began the season with a dominant performance in the first three rounds, confirming the strength of the technical project developed in Brackley.
Mercedes used the 200 km for a very specific goal
While Ferrari and Red Bull used their promotional running to validate and fine-tune upgrade packages ahead of Miami, Mercedes chose a slightly different path. The focus was placed almost entirely on starting procedures. It was a meticulous programme, built around continuous repetition and setup variations, aimed at addressing one of the most critical weaknesses of the early season.
Race starts have in fact been a clear weak point of the W17: too often Russell and Antonelli have lost positions at the lights, forcing them to recover through the race. A limitation that, so far, has had little impact thanks to the overwhelming performance advantage of the W17 package, only complicating the opening laps—particularly in direct comparison with Ferrari. The results have effectively masked these issues, turning a technical weakness into a secondary detail in the story of Mercedes’ dominance.
However, that balance is fragile and likely to change. In the coming weeks and months, the competitive picture could tighten significantly. McLaren and Ferrari are expected to bring major updates and have already shown signs of improvement that could reduce Mercedes’ advantage. In a more compressed field, where race pace differences shrink and qualifying becomes even more decisive, every detail starts to matter.
This is the reason behind the decision to dedicate an entire filming day to an almost obsessive focus on start procedures, aiming to solve a key weakness compared to Ferrari’s SF-26, which benefits from a smaller compressor and—according to some strong rumours—interesting strategies involving the wastegate valve. It is an approach that closely mirrors what Audi did in Monza in the previous days under the supervision of Mattia Binotto’s structure.
Details, fine margins, milliseconds: in the 2026 Formula 1 season they may not yet be decisive words given the current dominance of the W17, but they could quickly become so. Mercedes knows this, and therefore, behind the scenes, it has chosen to take a step forward in an area where it has so far left too much performance on the table.
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