Offering a candid assessment of the team’s progress, Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin called the early realiability isses “frustrating” which will force the Brackley-based outfit to shift “a good amount of work” into the second week of pre-season testing.
The final day of the opening Manama pre-season testing saw George Russell and Kimi Antonelli split driving duties, beginning with single‑lap performance work before transitioning into race simulations.
Russell topped the timesheets in the morning session, while Antonelli surpassed his benchmark later in the cooler afternoon conditions. Crucially, the team finally enjoyed a more stable day of running, with Russell completing 78 laps and Antonelli 64.
Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin offered a candid assessment of the team’s progress, acknowledging both the improvements made and the work still ahead.
“We had our strongest day of this first test today but still spent far longer in the garage than we would have liked. We have not achieved what we wanted to during this first test and a good amount of work has now shifted into next week’s second and final test.
“That is frustrating but all part of testing; it’s important to face these challenges head on before the season proper starts,” continued Shovlin.
Despite the frustrations, Shovlin highlighted meaningful steps forward in performance: “Pace wise, we made solid progress today but the W17 has been harder to keep in a happy window here compared to Barcelona.
“We have a decent baseline to take into next week but it’s clear that some of our competitors, who have had a smoother first test, are in a better position than us and that we have work to do to catch up. Hopefully we can begin to do that during the second test next week.”