Mercedes Proves Its Mettle Against McLaren in 2025 Season Opener

In the 2025 season opener held in Bahrain, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton trailed winner Max Verstappen by over 45 seconds. Fast forward thirteen months, and at the Silver Arrows’ stress test, Russell clinched second place, outshining the McLarens. As Red Bull grapples with car balance issues and Ferrari struggles to maintain pace over a race distance, Mercedes has positioned itself as ‘s closest competitor so far.

George Russell’s Consistent Performance Showcases Improvement

Russell’s third podium in four races across different layouts underscores a consistency he couldn’t achieve with the less pliable 2024 car. Ahead of the race, Russell felt Bahrain’s desert heat and Sakhir’s rough tarmac would test Mercedes‘ progress. The performance on Sunday seemed to confirm that the team had indeed made significant strides.

We expected Bahrain to be one of our toughest challenges due to the warm ambient temperature and the granular, rough circuit,” said Toto Wolff when asked if Mercedes had passed its Bahrain stress test. “We qualified in second and fourth positions. We had a car that was solidly on the podium, which is better than we anticipated. You can only call a race a success if you win, but under the circumstances, one could say it was much better than expected.

The Race Gap Between Mercedes and McLaren Remains Challenging

Despite Russell’s impressive performance, catching McLaren will still be a formidable task. Oscar Piastri won comfortably by 15 seconds, although the gap was inflated due to Piastri running preferred medium tyres for the second half of the race while Russell battled soft tyre wear and electrical issues on his car.

If you look at where McLaren was last year [Norris and Piastri finished sixth and eighth in 2024], you can see how quickly things can change,” Wolff said. “Probably today we were missing a few tenths. I don’t know how we would have performed on the medium at the end.

McLaren’s Engineering Excellence Shines Through

When asked about what made McLaren perform so well, Wolff said, “When a car performs like does, it’s all about good engineering. They have the performance in the chassis, and they manage the tyres better than anyone else. And they have a great engine…

Mercedes Investigates Electronic Issues that Plagued Russell’s Race

Despite facing brake-by-wire failure and other electronic issues that made his final 20 laps challenging, Russell’s drive was “unbelievable,” according to Wolff. The team is still investigating the causes of these issues but feels that Russell’s performance was remarkable given the distractions he faced.