Jolyon Palmer explains why he was ‘frustrated’ watching Mercedes during Bahrain testing

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Mercedes are looking strong favourites for the Formula 1 title in 2026, yet Jolyon Palmer could not help but be frustrated by them during the final day of testing in Bahrain.

The Brackley-based outfit have caught all the attention in the F1 paddock during pre-season with the row over their compression ratio trick. Ferrari and the other manufacturers have been protesting the legality of the Mercedes power unit as they found a way to extend the FIA’s 16:1 limit.

The rules are set to change from 1st August, but Mercedes might not actually be affected all that much. Needless to say, the team have been going about their business amid the noise and racking up mileage in the W17.

Mercedes completed more than three-times as many laps as Aston Martin during the second week of testing in Bahrain!

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Photo credit: Joe Portlock/Getty Images

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Mercedes completed the most laps of any team in the second test in Bahrain, clocking 432 laps, or over 2000km. Kimi Antonelli was the second-fastest driver overall, eight tenths behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Despite this, ‘everyone’ felt Mercedes were faster than Ferrari in the F1 paddock, which would suggest that the Silver Arrows will be the favourites heading into the season opener in Australia.

Jolyon Palmer ‘frustrated’ by Mercedes not going for all-out performance on the final day in Bahrain testing

Reliability is the big question mark for Mercedes heading into the first race of the season, and Palmer also thinks that they have more work to do with the race starts. Speaking via the official F1 YouTube channel, he was ‘frustrated’ by them not going for performance on the final day.

Talking about the practice starts, he said: “Well, to be honest, the start, he started from pole and he just about held off Charles from fifth. Yeah, he was the first into the first corner, but I still think that they’ve got a little bit of work to do in that area.

“They’ve frustrated me today because they didn’t go for performance. I’m all about chucking it on, go for it at the end.

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“But that speaks volumes. The car looks good. Reliability has been a little bit more questionable, so that’s something hanging over them. And we’re, basically, with Mercedes, going off vibes, aren’t we?

“Well, the car looks good, but they’ve just not shown anything. They did long runs last week, they’ve not done any race runs this week. Smacks of confidence that they don’t need to go and do that.

“They’ve not done any quali runs at the end of the day. Smacks of confidence that they don’t feel they need to go and show their hand. They just, they were nowhere near it.

“So, car looks good. Drivers, so happy, love everything about this year so far. You have to feel that they have a little bit more in play.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Mercedes F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Kimi Antonelli is ‘on the back foot’ compared to George Russell after testing

Guenther Steiner thinks Russell is a title contender in 2026, but he says Antonelli is too ‘young’ to challenge him this year. While he set the quicker time in Bahrain, he did not get as much mileage in the car and is thus ‘on the back foot’

Journalist Lawrence Barretto explained the Italian’s demeanour in the press conference: “Just quickly, Kimi, I don’t think he’s had a great run of it, to be honest. He’s hardly had any laps relative to what George has had.

“So, I think he’s going in, talking to him in the press conference, kind of on the back foot. So, I think it’s that and the reliability, which is the slight chink in the armour.

“George mentioned it again in the presser, like it’s great that the car has looked good and that they are smiling, that they’re happy, but they have had way too many niggles really through testing and that’s maybe why they’re not getting too carried away.”