Mercedes has identified corner-entry instability and understeer as the main problems affecting its W17 after Friday practice at the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix, with George Russell admitting that Ferrari currently looks like the strongest team. Although the Brackley-based outfit showed competitive speed during FP1 and FP2, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin believes further improvements are necessary if Mercedes is to challenge for the front positions in qualifying.
The weekend began positively for Mercedes, which demonstrated its ability to compete near the front from the opening session. Frederik Vesti replaced George Russell in FP1 as part of the FIA’s mandatory rookie practice requirements, before the British driver returned to his usual seat for FP2 and quickly established a good feeling with the W17.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli also enjoyed an encouraging start despite arriving in Mexico below full fitness after a virus forced him to miss media day. The Italian, who has an opportunity to secure the 2026 Formula 1 world championship on Sunday, appeared comfortable behind the wheel throughout both practice sessions.
George Russell says Ferrari looks strongest after Mexico GP practice
George Russell began by praising Frederik Vesti’s contribution during the opening session, explaining that the Danish driver had helped prepare the team for his return to the cockpit.
“Fred did a really good job in the car and prepared us well for my hour of practice,” George Russell explained. “It was positive to get into a rhythm straight away after missing FP1. Mexico is always a unique challenge because of the altitude and the low grip, and this year those conditions are even more pronounced.”
The Mercedes driver then highlighted how the characteristics of the 2026 Formula 1 cars have made the challenge at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez particularly demanding.
“At most circuits, we’ve been running high levels of downforce because of the way the cars behave on the straights. So here, we don’t have the same increase in downforce that we would normally have at this circuit. That makes the car particularly difficult to drive, and there’s also the challenge of turbo lag at this altitude.”
With the competitive order still closely contested, George Russell believes every small improvement will matter during qualifying. However, he identified Ferrari as the team that had made the strongest impression during Friday’s running.
“The competition is incredibly close, and every fraction of a second of lap time will be crucial,” the British driver continued. “Ferrari looks the strongest at the moment, which perhaps isn’t surprising given the characteristics of this circuit.”
“We expected them to perform at their best on this type of circuit because they have a really good chassis. But I think the situation could change completely by Q3 tomorrow. We need to maximise every detail because the margins will be minimal.”
Ferrari’s encouraging performance follows a United States Grand Prix weekend in which its chassis demonstrated considerable potential, with the SF-26’s improved Austin race pace providing further evidence of its recent progress. However, the different operating conditions in Mexico mean the teams must continue refining their setups before qualifying.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli confirms Mercedes tried different setups to improve W17 balance
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was pleased to return to the cockpit after his illness disrupted the beginning of the Mexican Grand Prix weekend. Despite missing media commitments, the championship leader reported feeling healthy during Friday’s running.
“First of all, it was good to be back in the car and feeling healthy today. It was an interesting Friday here in Mexico,” Andrea Kimi Antonelli explained.
The Italian also discussed the difficulty of understanding the car’s behaviour on a circuit where grip levels change significantly as the surface improves during practice.
“It’s never easy to understand how the car is behaving, particularly in FP1 when the track needs a lot of cleaning. We tried different solutions between the sessions to find a better balance for the car, and it seems that things improved for FP2.”
Although Mercedes made progress between the two sessions, Andrea Kimi Antonelli believes additional performance remains available. The team will therefore continue working on its setup overnight before Saturday’s qualifying session.
“There are definitely more areas we can improve for tomorrow, and we have some work to do overnight,” he acknowledged.
Like his teammate, the Italian also highlighted Ferrari’s impressive opening day, while emphasising that Mercedes would concentrate on its own preparations rather than becoming distracted by its rivals.
“Ferrari looked very fast. But we’ll focus on ourselves. We’ll see where we can find more performance and hopefully put ourselves in a good position for tomorrow.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli enters the weekend with the possibility of settling the championship battle, having moved closer to the 2026 world title with his victory at the United States Grand Prix. However, the Mercedes driver still needs to extract the maximum performance from the W17 on a circuit presenting unusually demanding technical conditions.
Andrew Shovlin praises Frederik Vesti after impressive FP1 performance
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin described the opening day in Mexico as productive, particularly given the challenges caused by altitude and low grip. He praised both Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Frederik Vesti for their work during the first practice session.
“It’s been a solid first day in Mexico. Kimi and Fred both did a good job in FP1, particularly considering how difficult the conditions can be here with the altitude and low grip,” Andrew Shovlin explained.
Frederik Vesti completed the programme assigned to him and finished third in FP1, giving Mercedes valuable information ahead of George Russell’s return in the afternoon.
“Fred completed the programme we had planned for him and did an excellent job to finish in third position. That provided useful information for FP2 when George returned to the car.”
The result was particularly encouraging given the limited time available for a reserve driver to adapt to the car and the challenging conditions in Mexico City.
Mercedes power unit performs reasonably well despite Mexico altitude and cooling concerns
Andrew Shovlin also explained why preparing for the Mexican Grand Prix is especially complicated. The high altitude affects several aspects of car performance, and the full consequences cannot be reproduced through simulation alone.
“Mexico is the hardest circuit to prepare for because it’s impossible to simulate all the effects of altitude. We use Friday to understand the different issues we’re facing and develop an approach that allows us to manage them during qualifying and the race.”
The Mercedes engineer was relatively satisfied with the power unit’s behaviour, particularly its delivery of power when accelerating out of corners.
“As far as the power unit is concerned, we seem to be in reasonable shape, with good power delivery out of the corners.”
However, the thinner air creates additional cooling demands for both the braking system and the power unit. Mercedes completed useful long runs with both cars, although Shovlin acknowledged that the team would prefer a greater operating margin.
“Cooling both the brakes and the power unit is always an issue, but we managed to complete some good long runs with both cars. And although we would like a greater margin, it seems that all the teams have to manage things to some extent.”
Cooling has been a major concern throughout the build-up to the Mexican Grand Prix, with Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur also warning about the difficulties of managing temperatures and grip at altitude.
Mercedes identifies corner-entry instability and understeer as key W17 weaknesses
Despite the encouraging aspects of Friday’s programme, Andrew Shovlin was cautious about Mercedes’ position relative to its rivals. He believes the W17 still needs a meaningful improvement before the team can consider itself among the leading contenders.
“The competition is close, and judging by today’s times, we wouldn’t consider ourselves to be at the front,” the Mercedes engineer admitted.
Shovlin then identified the main handling problems affecting the W17, explaining that the car’s lack of stability on corner entry is contributing to understeer. Crucially, the difficulties are appearing during both qualifying simulations and longer runs.
“We’re struggling with a lack of stability on corner entry, which translates into understeer on exit. The problems we’ve encountered over a single lap are actually quite similar to those on the long runs, which should make it easier to make progress. But it’s clear that we need to take a step forward if we want to fight for the front positions.”
The comments reinforce the importance of finding a more consistent operating window for the W17, an issue Mercedes has already encountered during recent races. Toto Wolff has previously acknowledged the team’s responsibility for understanding George Russell’s difficulties, particularly when the car’s performance has proved difficult to access consistently.
Those problems were also evident in George Russell’s difficult Austin Grand Prix, despite Andrea Kimi Antonelli securing victory in the other Mercedes.
For Mercedes, the immediate objective is to improve the W17’s corner-entry stability and reduce understeer without sacrificing the performance already demonstrated during Friday practice. With Ferrari looking particularly competitive and the margins expected to be small, the team’s overnight setup work could be decisive in determining whether it can challenge for the front positions in Mexico qualifying.
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