Motorsport TechnologyGeorge Russell says that he is looking forward to a close fight between his Mercedes F1 team and predicted rivals McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing following the conclusion of pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Although Mercedes have experience a few teething troubles that has curtailed their running, they have been consistently at the top of the lap times during the Bahrain tests and many bookmakers still have Russell as early favourite.
“The competitive picture has remained similar to previous days,” commented Russell on his team’s official press release.”
The six days of testing have seen some interesting tech innovations from Ferrari in particular. But all will become a little clearer when the cars take to the circuit in Melbourne.
Signing off from F1 Testing with @GeorgeRussell63 🩵 pic.twitter.com/E1aWCiysqt
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 20, 2026
“We have looked in the mix with several of our rivals near the front but it’s clear, with Ferrari topping the times and McLaren and Red Bull Racing being right on their tails, that we need to continue working hard to bring more performance.
“It’s looking like it will be a close fight in Melbourne and we hope to be a part of that.”
For Andrew Shovlin, trackside engineering director, the overall picture remains unclear. But the mood is one of quiet confidence when racing proper resumes.
“We did a good job of getting the car out relatively early in the afternoon and overall, we were able to complete a lot of useful work with both drivers,” said Shovlin.
“We kept the focus on set-up items and long run consistency today, which allowed us to cover quite a bit of ground.
“The competitive picture still isn’t truly clear, but we know that we have plenty of work ahead as we finalise our preparations for Melbourne.
“We’ve put together a solid foundation to build from, are looking forward to the challenge ahead, and excited to see how the W17 performs when racing.”
Fraser Masefield
Craig Scarborough