On the evidence of Barcelona, Mercedes has \u201caced\u201d the new set of regulations for F1 2026, suggests Martin Brundle.<\/p>\n
However, the former F1 driver turned pundit warns that one must \u201cstay calm\u201d, as factors like how the Mercedes<\/a> W17 will perform on more typical track temperatures, and manage its tyres, are yet to be clarified.<\/p>\n Martin Brundle urges \u2018stay calm\u2019 over Mercedes W17<\/p>\n Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n There is a great deal of intrigue surrounding Mercedes heading into F1 2026, and that attention on the Silver Arrows only further spiked at the Barcelona closed-doors shakedown.<\/p>\n With teams permitted to run across three of the five days, the unofficial lap counter had Mercedes clocking a remarkable 502.<\/p>\n Furthermore, George Russell held what was the fastest time of the test \u2013 a 1:16.4 \u2013 all the way until the closing moments of Day 5, when Lewis Hamilton came in with a reported 1:16.3.<\/p>\n Russell\u2019s time was only seven-tenths short of Oscar Piastri\u2019s new race lap record set during the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, in normal temperatures.<\/p>\n Brundle gave his thoughts to Sky F1 after an impressive start to the F1 2026 pre-season for Mercedes.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, it\u2019s a completely different concept of aerodynamics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo Mercedes never really aced the ground effect car, did they? They never got it right. Porpoising, and then they had a car, they didn\u2019t understand it performing sometimes and not others, and they didn\u2019t know why.<\/p>\n \u201cSo clearly, they look like they\u2019ve sort of aced this completely different set of regulations. But, we need to see what it\u2019s like on normal track temperatures.<\/p>\n Also, Brundle continued, \u201cit\u2019s going to be about regeneration and filling their battery back-up.<\/p>\n \u201cBut of course, they\u2019ll regen every bit as well as any other Mercedes-powered car, probably Ferrari-powered car too.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it does seem as if they\u2019ve just hit the sweet spot pretty early doors on a number of things, as I was talking about earlier on.\u201d<\/p>\n But, as Brundle also alluded to earlier in his analysis, he is cautious about drawing too many conclusions on Mercedes just yet.<\/p>\n Key talking points following the Barcelona test<\/p>\n Adrian Newey masterclass revealed as Aston Martin AMR26 dissected<\/a><\/p>\n McLaren MCL40 reveals next-level aero design in Barcelona<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cTheir concept looks good, but it\u2019s too early to say that,\u201d Brundle warns.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you might have a car that just fires its tyres up brilliantly on a cold day and then overheats them on a hot day, which we\u2019ve seen Mercedes have that problem before.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I do think we need to stay calm on it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, you can\u2019t ignore the relentless pace and reliability that they\u2019ve had, so clearly, they\u2019ve got a really good, cohesive package.\u201d<\/p>\n Mercedes\u2019 trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin confirmed that the Barcelona shakedown was \u201creally impressive from a reliability point of view\u201d for the team, while continued \u201cprogress\u201d was made, with which Mercedes went \u201cquicker day by day\u201d.<\/p>\n Mercedes will look to confirm that the W17 can continue to run well at a more typical temperature come the first official pre-season test in Bahrain, to take place from 11-13 February.<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n