F1 Pre-Season: Mercedes’ Reliability Issues Leave Them Lapped
With the first two days of pre-season testing in the books, Mercedes is now being left in the dust by their competitors. Out of all the teams that ran both cars, Mercedes had the second-lowest total laps. They were forced to almost abandon Andrea Kimi Antonelli‘s runs, but were thankfully able to bounce back. This allowed George Russell to complete 54 laps, and Antonelli to get back on the track with a total of three laps.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal since 2013, spoke not only about the issues plaguing the team but also about how their reliability compared to that of Red Bull Racing. Max Verstappen caught Wolff’s attention, as he stated, “Seeing a very, very strong Verstappen this morning.” With Verstappen leading 136 total laps on day one of testing, it is clear that Mercedes is trailing the team it once dominated and now considers its biggest competitor. Overall, the paddock does not appear overly enthusiastic about the new power units, with some teams faring worse than others. The situation feels reminiscent of the early 2020s, with Red Bull Racing on top again and Mercedes struggling with reliability for the first time since the early 2010s, when it was still establishing itself.
In terms of Mercedes current problems, we are unaware of what exactly changed between the Barcelona Shakedown and the testing in Bahrain. Wolff speculates that the higher temperatures could have an adverse effect. During the testing in Bahrain, they have experienced issues with car balance, suspension, and having to swap out an entire power unit. This led them to a combined lap total of 57 laps, the lowest of any team to run both cars on day two. It’s a combination of reliability issues with multiple aspects of their car, and other teams' reliability, namely, Red Bull Racing and McLaren, that lead the fans to believe Mercedes falls down the order relatively quickly. A far cry from their second place in the constructors' championship of the 2025 season, Mercedes runs the reasonable risk of not being able to compete as they did during the mid to late 2010s.
