The Star® Journal

Well we didn’t have any active racing from Mercedes-AMG cars but we did have the final test days in Bahrain at the Losail Circuit as all the F1 teams cracked down on any last gremlins or setup adjustments that needed to be corrected for and some teams (you know who you are) had more than others. Beyond the testing, Drive To Survive airs this week on Netflix and I’m sure we’ll cover some of the behind the scenes that are revealed from the show. For now, let’s start with what we had happening over the last 7 days since we last chatted. 

As Lawrence Barretto observed in his reporting for Formula 1, out of all the teams that “win” from the second week of testing; it was certainly Mercedes. While the first week had both George and Kimi topping the timesheets throughout the sessions, the second week didn’t maintain that same level of purple sector sizzle compared to the first. This week Mercedes showed some sneaky pace on short runs in extreme heat, which on its own means nothing because the temps were hotter than any race they’ll see. However, it displays efficiency of the PU and aero package in extreme conditions. On the long runs, Mercedes was on par with the competitors, which is reassuring that their pace isn’t constricted to qualifying runs. 

Over the couple days, they replaced 2 power units (the reasons aren’t immediately clear, may have been preventative) but ended up still completing the most mileage, a theme carried over from all 3 weeks of testing, with 2 being the official tests in Bahrain. All signs looking good for a 2026 title challenge and next week we will chat about Drive To Survive and whatever else we find running globally with the three pointed star.