00:07Mercedes is the favorite going into Formula One's new era, with rumors that its W17 will
00:13be the one to beat come the 2026 season start in Australia. The Silver Arrows dominated at
00:20the start of the turbo hybrid era from 2014, during which it earned a record eight straight
00:25constructors titles. But Mercedes struggled in the ground effects era, with the runner-up
00:32spot the best it could manage in 2023 and 2025. Notching just seven wins from 2022 to the end of
00:41last season, compared to the 111 it scored from 2014 to 2021, which is 69.3% of all the
00:49races it
00:50competed in across the period. That could all change from 2026, which is George Russell's
00:58fifth season at the top squad, and he's ready for his time to shine.
01:02Really excited to get going into the season. Obviously there's been so much hard work
01:06going into producing this car. The power unit's been in production for a number of years now,
01:14and obviously this car, everybody at Brackley's been working so hard over the last 12, 14 months,
01:20to prepare it, and he's really excited to go racing them. That power unit is a source of
01:26contention, with rumours that their internal combustion engine is able to run a higher
01:30compression ratio than the 16 to 1 that is stipulated under the regulations.
01:37It's said that the engine might be able to run a higher ratio when the car is up to temperature
01:41on track, giving it a jump on its rivals. But the Silver Squad still has a lot to learn in
01:48Bahrain
01:49this week, which is the third and final test, the second in Manama, with clear targets set
01:54for the two weeks, especially for the power unit.
01:58Get that sophistication in is the areas that we thought, oh, it's not quite working correctly,
02:03make sure those are all nailed on and perfect. A couple of weeks of testing in Bahrain, that
02:08is going to be a busy time, because we've got to get all of that completely ready for the
02:12start of Melbourne.
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