Aston Martin’s new mean machine has Mercedes worried

Mercedes heads into the new Formula 1 season knowing it’s one of the early favorites. With power units expected to be the defining factor this year, the team’s engine department remains a benchmark.

Still, after listening to George Russell, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and team principal Toto Wolff during a virtual press conference from Brackley on Monday afternoon, it’s clear the competition may be tighter than they expected.

Competition will be fierce, says Russell

Russell jumped in first: “I think the best-case scenario for the sport and also for the drivers is that you’ve got a number of different drivers and a number of different teams all battling it out. And I think at the moment it does look like Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and ourselves are, let’s say, the four teams are all quite close within one another”.

“But you can’t discount what you’ve seen from Aston Martin, and what Adrian [Newey] has done with that car. It looks pretty spectacular. And Honda over the past few years with Red Bull have had a very good engine beneath them. So we also know what they’re capable of,” Russell continued. “So that would be awesome to see a big fight. And I remember it was 2012 or 2010, I think it was, when you had the McLarens, Fernando [Alonso] and the Red Bulls all fighting. That’s what the sport is about and that’s what we hope it will be about this year.”

After a week of testing in Barcelona and a first look at ten different cars, Russell kept coming back to how much the AMR26 surprised him: “Aston Martin’s car is the most unique in terms of design. Everyone’s looking at that rear suspension—it’s visually striking. But at the end of the day, this is about being fast, not just looking good. We’ll find out in Melbourne which car is actually quickest. From there, teams will start taking inspiration from one another.”

New Mercedes ”doesn’t look like a turd”

The 27‑year‑old British driver, already a five‑time Grand Prix winner, admits the Mercedes W17 made a strong first impression the moment it hit the track.

“Obviously, we’ve only driven the car for three days and it’s still very early days, but quoting Toto [Wolff, team principal], it doesn’t look like it’s a turd, which is a bonus!” he said. “And to be honest, in the early days like this, you know when it could be a really bad car and you can sort of highlight those negatives early on – and we don’t believe it is.

“But is it a car that can produce a world championship? It’s still way too early to see. We’ve been quite surprised by what we’ve seen from some of our rivals, especially sort of on the Red Bull power unit side – that looks very impressive considering they’re a completely new outfit and reliable as well. So kudos to them".

Antonelli struck a more cautious tone, though he pointed to the same group of contenders: “It looks like Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, and us are all pretty close. Another team could join the fight as the season goes on, but it’s too early to know.”

Team principal Toto Wolff, after four long years wrestling with ground‑effect porpoising, wasn’t ready to celebrate just yet. “As you know, I’m always skeptical about performance,” he said. “So much gets made up. I’ve had the wrong expectations too often and I don’t want to be caught out in Bahrain or Melbourne.”

The next preseason test is scheduled for 11-13 February in Bahrain while the first race of the new season takes place in Melbourne on 8 March.

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