Barcelona, 26 January 2026 — Mercedes-AMG began its 2026 shakedown programme on a positive note as the first day of running concluded at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. With teams permitted to run on only three of the five available shakedown days, seven outfits — including Mercedes-AMG — chose to take to the track on the opening day.
Kimi Antonelli was first behind the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W17 E PERFORMANCE in the morning session, becoming the first driver on track as the pit lane opened on a damp circuit. After initial laps on intermediate tyres, the Italian switched to C3 softs and later C1 hards, completing 56 laps before the lunch break.
George Russell took over in the afternoon and continued the team’s programme, adding a further 95 laps. By the end of the day, Mercedes-AMG had completed a total of 151 laps, covering just over 700 kilometres — a strong mileage return on the car’s first proper test day.
Antonelli described the day as productive, emphasising the importance of accumulating kilometres with the new generation of cars and praising the work of the teams in Brackley and Brixworth for delivering a car capable of completing extensive running so early in testing.
Russell echoed the positive sentiment, noting how different yet intuitive the new cars feel to drive and highlighting the high level across the grid, with multiple power units completing significant mileage. He added that the sport has evolved considerably, with overall standards now extremely high.
Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin confirmed that reliability and understanding the car were the main objectives, with the team focusing on long runs, temperature management, and system checks. While overall performance remains difficult to judge at this stage, the successful completion of a full day of running was described as a clear reflection of the effort invested across both the chassis and power-unit programmes.
