Mercedes has described its first proper outing with the W17 as an encouraging step at the start of preparations for the 2026 Formula 1 season. Running at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the team completed all three days of scheduled work without major issues, meeting its primary objective of proving the new car.

“From a reliability perspective, it’s been a good week for us. The car has enabled us to run the programme exactly as we wanted each of the three days and that’s what we hoped for coming here to Barcelona. It is a huge testament to the hard work of everyone at Brackley and Brixworth in bringing this car to life,” said Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin, as quoted by F1.com.

Beyond reliability, Mercedes also made progress in addressing early challenges encountered at the start of the test. “We’ve also made good progress with some of the challenges we saw on days one and two and that is pleasing,” Shovlin added, underlining that the Barcelona running delivered valuable learning.

However, Mercedes stressed that the focus in Spain was deliberately narrow.

“In Barcelona we have only really been focused on proving out the W17,” Shovlin continued. With cold conditions limiting more detailed experimentation, the next phase of development will come later. Attention will now turn to Bahrain, where the team plans to expand its work.

“In Bahrain, we will switch to set-up exploration, which you can’t do here when it is so cold. That will give us a much better idea of the car’s relative abilities as we progress towards the 2026 season,” the Mercedes engineering director concluded.