George Russell is relieved that the introduction of the W17 appears to have ended the car’s ‘porpoising’. Mercedes was among the teams hit hardest by the bouncing under the previous regulations cycle. After more than 500 laps at the Circuit de Barcelona last week — alongside teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli — Russell is glad there don’t seem to be major issues with the 2026 challenger: ‘That saves us from back pain again’.
The Mercedes team completed more laps than any other squad during last week’s Barcelona test. The W17 crossed the start/finish line over 500 times. As for pace, the Silver Arrows look solid for now, although the times aren’t yet representative: George Russell was the first driver in Barcelona on Thursday to dip under 1:17.000. Only Lewis Hamilton was a touch quicker than his former team-mate on Friday.
Russell was pleased with how the W17’s first proper test went. “I think this was a very positive test, to be honest,” the Brit told the media afterwards. “We covered a lot of kilometres with the car, which was the main objective of the test. The car is pleasant to drive. No major issues, no porpoising – which is good news for all of us, because that spares us a few more years of back problems. All in all, a few good days.”
‘No clear read on pace yet’
The Mercedes’ reliability also caught the attention of rivals. Across all three test days the W17 managed more than a hundred laps. According to Russell, however, that is not a guarantee of the new car’s competitiveness. “The car has been working well so far, but it’s not about how well it works, it’s about how fast it goes around the circuit,” the British driver said. “And right now we have no indication of that. We’re more or less in a reasonably good place, but I’m sure a lot will change between now and the next test in Bahrain. Other teams will bring upgrades for their cars. So it’s still very early to draw conclusions.”
