Mercedes' W17 Sets Benchmark with 1:16s Pace in Barcelona

Mercedes’ W17 set the benchmark during the Barcelona pre-season shakedown, posting lap times in the 1:16–1:17 range that underlined both single-lap pace and race-pace potential. George Russell turned the quickest unofficial time of the shakedown with a 1:16.445, while Kimi Antonelli provided session-leading runs including a 1:17.081 on Thursday; several laps were quicker than Mercedes’ best race lap from last year’s Spanish Grand Prix. McLaren and Ferrari showed competitive early running — Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton among the quickest non-Mercedes drivers — but interruptions to their programs left Barcelona as an early snapshot rather than a definitive measure of season form.

Reliability and mileage proved the standout story: Russell and Antonelli combined for exactly 500 laps across the permitted three running days and led the mileage charts. The W17 completed multiple full race simulations, Antonelli ran a complete race sim on his second half-day in the car, and engineers described the package as having worked “faultlessly,” with clean data capture throughout. Mercedes’ new hybrid power package also logged heavy mileage with customer teams McLaren and Alpine, reinforcing early signs of durability, and Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin said the team was “ahead of where we hoped” on mileage; most lost track time during the shakedown came from rival failures and red flags rather than Mercedes issues.

After extensive race-pace work Mercedes moved onto qualifying-mode running on the final day, using Barcelona as a proving ground before setup exploration in Bahrain. The combination of straight-line speed, consistent lap times and trouble-free mileage strengthened Mercedes’ status as one of the pre-season favorites, while teams cautioned that differing test programs, fuel loads and setups limit how much the times alone reveal about true race competitiveness. Nonetheless, the W17 achieved the primary objective of the shakedown by proving mechanical and power-unit readiness ahead of the next on-track commitments.