Kimi Antonelli says Bahrain not his smoothest test, Melbourne behind the door

Mercedes may be considered favorites heading into the 2026 F1 season, but their preseason hasn't been free of reliability issues, which seem to have hampered Antonelli more than his teammate George Russell, who is tipped to launch a Championship battle this season.

As a matter of fact, Russell managed 172 laps more in preseason that Antonelli who lamented the reliability issues that marred his testing.

“It hasn’t been the smoothest of tests for me here in Bahrain," the Italian said, "but that’s what is testing. It’s all about testing, and it’s really important to fix it now and to experience these issues now to then be fine for the rest of the season.

“The team has been looking into it and already found the issue and also the way to fix it, so hopefully it will be fine for Australia. Other than that, the car has felt pretty good—to be fair, we’ve done a lot of work, setup work, and the car is giving good feelings."

While admitting that his W17 was solid, Antonelli made sure to follow that up with some praise to rivals' cars while speaking on the final day of testing.

He said: “Of course, the other top teams look pretty good as well—Ferrari looked strong this morning, but also McLaren yesterday looked strong and Red Bull as well, so I think the top four are pretty close together, and it’s going to be a tight fight.”

The 2026 F1 season is Antonelli's second in the top flight, as he can no longer hide behind the rookie label, and he has previously revealed that he is changing his approach after lessons learned in 2025.

Speaking in Bahrain, he added: “I feel good going into the season, much more prepared compared to last year. Of course there’s a lot of expectation around us, but I think the other top teams are very strong as well.

“Ferrari looked very competitive this morning [final day], Red Bull looks in a good place as well, and McLaren yesterday looked very, very strong, so I think we just need to keep focusing on ourselves and trying to squeeze as much performance as possible.

“Melbourne is behind the door, and in Melbourne it’s going to be time to really show the performance," the 19-year-old Mercedes driver concluded. (Reporting by Agnes Carlier)