Mercedes logs heavy mileage on second day of Barcelona shakedown

F1 Test, Barcelona, Circuit de Catalunya

Mercedes continued its 2026 preparations with a productive second day of running at the Barcelona Shakedown on 28 January, completing more than 180 laps as both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli shared driving duties in the W17. The team had elected not to run on Tuesday due to persistent wet conditions, but Wednesday offered a dry window that allowed the programme to proceed as planned.

George Russell drove during the morning session and completed 92 laps, predominantly on the C1 Hard tyre. That effort brought his total for the week to 187 laps. Antonelli took over in the afternoon and added 91 laps to the 56 he completed on Monday, giving Mercedes 183 laps for the day and more than 850 km of mileage. Across the opening two days, the team has now accumulated 334 laps and over 1,500 km.

Mercedes retains the option to complete its third and final shakedown day on either Thursday or Friday, depending on weather conditions.

Russell reported a smooth and productive day from the cockpit, emphasising the importance of mileage at this early stage of the season.

“Everything went relatively smoothly from a reliability perspective today so that is good for our overall programme. This test is all about getting mileage on the car and making sure everything functions as it should. That was the case today as Kimi and myself were able to put a large number of laps in once again.

"The track temperature was in the low single-digits this morning, one of the coldest circuits I’ve ever driven on, so there’s little-to-nothing you can read into the times. The excitement lies ahead once we head to Melbourne and get a sense of where we stack up against our competitors. For now, we are putting in the hard work and enjoying the process of getting ready for the season ahead.”

Looking ahead to the final day of running, he added: “We’ve still got one more day of running we can accomplish, which may be tomorrow but will depend on the weather. We’ve got more work we want to do, and we are in a good place to run on Thursday, but we will only do so if we are confident it will be dry.”

Antonelli, meanwhile, enjoyed a far more representative day than his weather‑affected Monday outing.

“It was a better day on my side than Monday, where the wet track in the morning limited my running. We were able to run a full race distance this afternoon, building our mileage and getting lots of data for the team to work with.

"This car is completely new and a big difference to last year’s so I’m getting more used to it with every lap we complete. It’s constant learning for me as a driver and the team too so accumulating as much mileage as we can is very useful.”

He noted that the team has executed its plan effectively so far: “We have completed our programme on both days so far. That is the only real goal of this shakedown and hopefully our third and final day of running goes smoothly.

"That may be tomorrow if the weather looks to be dry; whatever the conditions we face either tomorrow or Friday though, we are focused on adding to our mileage and putting ourselves in the best possible position before we head to Bahrain.”

Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin echoed the drivers’ satisfaction with the day’s progress: "We are pleased with the mileage we achieved today and have ticked off most of the objectives we set ourselves for the first two days of running here in Barcelona.

"The car has been reliable, and we’ve been able to put together multiple race distances today. That is encouraging as an initial step, and I know both drivers will be feeling the number of laps they put in today!”

He also highlighted early driver impressions of the new‑generation 2026 machinery: “The drivers have commented favourably on the feeling these smaller, lighter cars give them compared to the previous generation.

"However, they will only be truly happy once we see the relative performance compared to our competitors and that is something we won’t see until Bahrain at the earliest. We have one more day of running where we will get into a little bit more set-up work than we have so far.

"That may come tomorrow and will give us more useful information we can analyse before we head to Bahrain. If that final day goes as well as these first two days have then we will be happy with how this shakedown in Barcelona has gone.”