Mercedes explain how 2026 preparations mark ‘biggest project we’ve ever done’ as they assess plan for Bahrain test

Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin has labelled the team’s 2026 preparations as the “biggest project we’ve ever done”, with the Briton admitting that work on the new power unit has been ongoing for “years”.

A wave of new technical regulations come into effect for the upcoming season, featuring new-look cars and overhauled power unit rules. As such, the recent Barcelona Shakedown offered an opportunity for the teams and drivers to get their first taste of the revamped machines.

Quizzed in Barcelona on how much of a project the team had undertaken to prepare for the rules reset, Shovlin conceded: “It’s been an absolutely monumental project, and on the power unit side in Brixworth they’ve been working on it for years – a very difficult and challenging programme.

“You’ve also got all the complexity that the fuel development throws into that with Petronas, and then on the chassis side, a completely new set of regulations. Coupled with that we’ve got all-new electronics systems, so it’s the biggest project we’ve ever done as a team.

“We don’t know where we stand in terms of performance, but we are able to keep the car out on track, which is great because we’ll be able to hopefully learn at a good rate. But as I said, it’s a testament to in some cases years of preparation for these early days.”

Mercedes achieved good mileage during their allocated three days of running at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, before the W17 next hits the track when official pre-season testing gets underway at the Bahrain International Circuit.

In terms of the plan for the squad going forward from Barcelona, Shovlin explained: “For every event, whether it was the shakedown in Silverstone or this first test, Bahrain, we have an idea of what objectives we want to achieve.

“We’ve pretty much ticked all of those boxes for these two [events]. Bahrain, we’re going to move more to set-up exploration, trying to work out how you get the car in the right window, and whilst you can do set-up here [in Barcelona], it’s so cold it’s not really relevant to any race track.

“So Bahrain’s going to be a much better place to check that the car runs well at temperature, both in terms of the chassis performance side, but also just are the systems running effectively. And then that final Bahrain [test] hopefully will be more just about the race prep, so preparing for Qualifying, preparing for race and all the situations that that throws up.”

The first Bahrain test takes place from February 11-13, before a second follows on February 18-20.