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Andrea Kimi Antonelli has provided a candid assessment of his first official pre-season test as a full-time Mercedes driver, admitting that the week in Bahrain was far from a "smooth ride." While the Silver Arrows completed a significant amount of mileage, the young Italian driver faced a series of technical hurdles that have raised questions about the reliability of the W17 heading into the new era of Formula 1.
Reliability woes in the desert
Despite Mercedes topping the lap count on several days, the reliability of their power unit and pneumatic systems remains a point of concern. Antonelli’s sessions were interrupted by a recurring pneumatic issue on Friday, which forced him to stop the car on track and ended his simulation prematurely. This incident mirrored earlier complaints from teammate George Russell, who warned that while the car's pace is competitive, it currently lacks the "bulletproof" nature required for a 24-race championship.
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Antonelli, however, is choosing to look at the glass half-full. "These were not perfect tests for me, but that is the fundamental goal of a test week," he explained to the Italian media. "You want to discover these vulnerabilities now, in a controlled environment, rather than having them ruin a race weekend in Australia or China. It’s a process of elimination." He noted that the engineers at Brackley and Brixworth have already identified the root causes of the failures and are working on "Gen 2" solutions for the opening rounds.
A trial by fire for the rookie
The nineteen-year-old is under immense pressure as the successor to Lewis Hamilton, and the technical setbacks have only intensified the spotlight. Antonelli noted that the 2026 cars are significantly more complex to manage than previous iterations, requiring a constant dialogue with the pit wall regarding energy deployment and thermal management. He admitted that the learning curve has been "vertical," but he feels he has matured more in these six days of testing than in an entire season of junior categories.
Mercedes remains optimistic that their base performance is strong enough to challenge Ferrari and Red Bull once the reliability issues are ironed out. Antonelli emphasized that the team is focused on "operational excellence" and that he feels better prepared than he did during his initial shakedowns in Barcelona. The paddock remains split on whether Mercedes is truly "sandbagging" or if their technical gremlins are a sign of a deeper design flaw in their new hybrid architecture.
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