Lando Norris
McLaren
Mercedes
Red Bull
Ferrari
Williams
Racing Bulls
Aston Martin
Haas
Alpine
If George Russell wasn’t thinking about winning the drivers’ championship in 2026 with Mercedes before the shakedown in Barcelona, he might be now.
Mercedes were the standout team at the Circuit de Catalunya during the first week of testing under Formula 1’s new regulations.
The Silver Arrows were the only team to complete more than 500 laps across their three days of running.
Both George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli topped the timing sheets at various points during the week, and while most teams were taking advantage of running on Friday, Mercedes were already packed up and heading home.
George Russell topped the lap count at the Barcelona Shakedown 🔥
But is mileage everything at this stage? 🤔
Mercedes’ new power unit appears to be very reliable, and they had the benefit of McLaren and Alpine also testing it to its limits.
The FIA are looking into Mercedes’ engine over concerns about a potential loophole, but Russell will be hoping that any major changes can wait until at least the end of the season.
Journalist Mark Hughes has now heard something Russell said during the testing week that suggests Mercedes are in for an even bigger ‘positive surprise’ from their lead driver than they previously expected.
READ MORE: Mercedes driver George Russell’s life outside F1 from net worth to height
George Russell delivers ‘positive surprise’ on how good Mercedes’ 2026 F1 car is to drive
Hughes was speaking on the Motor Sport Magazine YouTube channel about the beginning of the 2026 testing season.
He explained: “I think even the big teams were expecting to have more sort of hiccups and initial problems than they did have.
“Audi did have some of those problems, Cadillac a little bit too, but even those teams got a decent number of laps in. So that was one positive surprise.
“The other positive surprise, Hadjar and Russell both commented, actually, these are really nice to drive.
Describe Mercedes’ 2026 F1 livery in one word
“Russell was saying you can really feel that they’re a lot smaller and lighter than before.
“And he said, they just feel really nice, and he said, yes, you’ve got to get your head around how to manage the power unit differently. But it’s not that hard.
“It feels pretty good already, and Hadjar got to the point where he was saying, I’m starting to think about messing with the setup.
“And he subsequently crashed in the rain yesterday.”
READ MORE: All you need to know about Mercedes F1 Team from team principal to lineage
George Russell is lowering expectations despite a faultless Barcelona shakedown
Mercedes last challenged for a championship in 2021 when Lewis Hamilton missed out to Max Verstappen during the most dramatic final lap in F1 history.
Russell arrived from Williams in 2022 and would have felt hard done by then; he never got to challenge for the title after dealing with one of the grid’s slowest cars for three years.
This year could be when that changes, and Mercedes’ rivals are already putting them at the front of the grid despite the first race of the season in Australia still being more than a month away.
Speaking at the conclusion of the shakedown on F1’s official website, Russell said: “Overall, a positive shakedown for us here in Barcelona.
“The car feels nice to drive, but more importantly, we’ve completed plenty of mileage and had no major issues. The minor issues we’ve come across, we’ve been able to resolve, which is the purpose of such running.
“The car is working well, but we know that it is not about the car working well; it’s about how fast it can go.
“We don’t have any indication of that yet, so we will have to wait until Bahrain until we get any indications of the relative pecking order.
“It’s very early days, but we can be pleased with this initial foundation we have put in place.”
Receive exclusive F1 news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
