At the end of yesterday’s test day, optimism was visible at Mercedes after the team recovered much of the lost mileage from the first week caused by various issues. The hope was to continue on this positive trend into Day-6, but an unexpected reliability problem cut short Kimi Antonelli’s testing session, meaning he will return to the W17 only in FP1 in Australia. During the mid-day press conference, George Russell, who took to the track in the afternoon, offered a candid assessment of the new cars, particularly concerning problem-solving and race starts.
Russell: “These cars take a lot of time to fix issues”
Mercedes’ plan for the final day of Bahrain testing was to keep building mileage following the positive feedback from Day-4 and Day-5. However, this morning Kimi Antonelli ended his final test session nearly two hours early due to a technical issue, also halting the long-run work he had been performing. George Russell was tasked with making up for the lost mileage in the afternoon. In the customary mid-day press conference, the British driver offered some criticism of this new generation of cars. Observing his teammate’s morning difficulties, he said: “I definitely think there have been positive developments, but every time a problem occurs, you lose a lot of time. And obviously this morning we had an issue on track, losing several useful hours. We also faced numerous issues during the first Bahrain test last week. So there are positive lessons to learn: the car is fast, the new power units are quick, and we’re improving every day. But we need to keep working on reliability.”
Potential issues with race starts? “Speed means little if there are obstacles in the way”
George Russell did not hold back on the topic of race starts, a major focus during the second week of Bahrain testing. “I think we have great potential, but to win a race you need to start well from the grid, and I believe the two starts I did this week were worse than my worst starts in Formula 1.” The Mercedes driver referred to the standing start at the end of yesterday’s session. “Lewis went from eleventh to first. So at this point I don’t think how fast you are matters, because what will trip you up is the biggest obstacle. It’s something we are trying to understand, as we’re currently encountering some challenges in this area.”
George Russell has therefore highlighted a bittersweet reality for Mercedes heading into 2026: while the W17 possesses genuine raw pace, the inherent complexity of the new regulations means that minor reliability glitches and unpredictable launch procedures could prove to be the deciding factors in the early rounds of the championship.
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