Mercedes-powered teams were relatively anonymous in Australia FP1, with Mercedes and McLaren both lagging behind the benchmark times being set by Ferrari and Red Bull.
This quickly changed in FP2, with Oscar Piastri going fastest in the MCL40. Russell and Antonelli were just behind, as the Mercedes engine started flexing its muscles for the first time in 2026.
Crucially, these headline times are not the most important development of Friday Practice. Race pace, as always, is king in Formula 1. In this sense, the Silver Arrows sent a clear message to rivals in the streets of Albert Park.
Mercedes engine begins to reveal itself
After weeks of accusing each other of having the fastest package, the front-runners are now forced to show their true performance. At least, this will be the case in qualifying tomorrow.
Across Friday Practice, the shackles slowly came off amongst the top teams. Most notably, it was Mercedes and McLaren who made a notable step forward. In many ways, this shouldn’t be a surprise.
McLaren have emphasised the importance of optimising the Mercedes power unit in recent weeks.
Following three weeks of pre-season testing, Andrea Stella’s team identified that – before bringing aerodynamic upgrades – the most immediate lap-time to exploit was via the Mercedes power unit.
For both Mercedes and their customers, collecting data on the engine is essential.
The Brixworth-made engine is believed to be highly efficient at harvesting, recycling and re-deploying electrical energy – offering a critical advantage for these 2026 regulations.
As a result, it cannot be a surprise that power unit work is already taking centre stage. Of course, this also demonstrates the confidence within Mercedes’ ranks about their power unit.
Rival manufacturers were also conscious of this inevitable threat. Max Verstappen warned in testing that Toto Wolff’s team would set the standard once they put their power unit through its paces.
“Just wait until Melbourne and see how much power they suddenly find – I already know.”
This prediction, which came a month ago in Bahrain, appears to be materialising in real time.
Although both Ferrari and Red Bull have delivered strong engines (which themselves aren’t running at full power), there is a clear sense of dread surrounding the powertrains division under Toto Wolff’s supervision.
Mercedes fastest in long run pace
To some extent, assessing race pace from free practice data can be tricky. Even in normal circumstances, there are often significant discrepancies in the fuel loads and engine modes team utilise in race simulations.
Combined with the uncertainty brought by a new generation of cars, these factory complicate the usual Friday analysis.
Nevertheless, some of the observations made in FP2’s long runs are impossible to ignore. Arguably of most relevance were the times set by the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
On average, the Silver Arrow pairing was setting high 1:23s and low 1:24s on their hard tyre stint. In comparison to Ferrari’s simulation on hard tyres, the W18 had an advantage of at least 3-4 tenths.
Mercedes also managed significantly longer stints than their rivals, giving them more representative data for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
In any case, the simulations conducted by McLaren and Red Bull were still sufficient to make a useful sample size.
Oscar Piastri, the only McLaren driver to complete a proper long run, was setting 1:24s on his race simulation with the soft tyre. Red Bull, meanwhile, were setting similar times on the mediums.
Since no team completed enough laps for tyre degradation to offset the differences in grip between compounds, Mercedes’ times are worth taking note of. The W18 as faster on hards than its immediate rivals on softer tyres.
To be clear, this is far from definitive proof that Mercedes are the fastest team.
Unknown fuel quantities and the relatively limited laps completed (partly due to Perez’s late stoppage) make it near impossible to confidently draw conclusions about performance.
At the same time, it seems clear that Mercedes are more competitive than the timings suggested in FP1 and testing. Ultimately, not until qualifying will the suspicions of the front-runners be put to rest.
When these 2026 cars are finally pushed to their limit, the true complexion of this year’s Championship will emerge.