The Brackley-based team’s new 2026 car is one of the seven that will be seen running on track today at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as the first of five scheduled test days gets underway, to be followed by two further test sessions in Bahrain in February.

The W17 hit the track almost immediately after the green light, with Kimi Antonelli completing the first few minutes of running — a signal that officially marked the start of the year and, in effect, the beginning of the 2026 season.

Track conditions were treacherous at the start of the morning session, with overnight rain leaving some damp patches across the tarmac. However, this did not deter Antonelli, who managed to post 55 laps on the timesheets.

Mercedes then revealed the first official images of the W17 out on track, running on the soft compound tyre.

The Italian's track time was only beaten by Haas' Esteban Ocon, who managed 66 laps throughout the morning, the equivalent to an entire Grand Prix distance around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Antonelli's best lap was a 1:20.700, just under two seconds from the fastest overall time which was set by Red Bull's Isack Hadjar. Mercedes' W17 appeared second fastest out of the seven teams that ran their cars, with newcomers Cadillac and Audi at the bottom of the timesheets, each of them about six seconds off the pace of Hadjar.

After an impressive morning stint, Antonelli will now switch places with George Russell, as the Briton takes to the circuit this afternoon for the first time in the W17.