According to the “GPS data”, Mercedes were the second-quickest team around the Bahrain International Circuit.

That is the claim made by respected Sky F1 correspondent Craig Slater, following the three-day pre-season test at the venue.

Mercedes placed P2 in Bahrain pecking order

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Testing times are notoriously hard to judge, and indeed, the order of the teams has sparked plenty of debate ahead of the F1 2025 season-opener in Melbourne in two weeks’ time, after Williams’ Carlos Sainz set the headline time of testing, a 1:29.348.

A race simulation from Lando Norris in the McLaren MCL39 on Day 2 which turned heads, has though only reinforced the belief held by many that the Brit goes into the season as title favourite.

Data analysis from PlanetF1.com’s resident expert Pablo Hidalgo has McLaren as the leading team based on race simulation numbers, with uncertainty prevailing over where Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull then stack up versus each other, Red Bull believed to have not been showing their true hand in Bahrain.

However, Slater has been looking at some data of his own, which made for positive reading for Mercedes.

“An individual I’ve spoken to with access to GPS data have Mercedes second quickest here,” said Slater.

“That’s interesting because I’m not sure Mercedes have been that self-confident during this test and they’ve got one very young driver [Kimi Antonelli] and George Russell who is leading their challenge this year.”

More numbers crunched from Bahrain F1 testing

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The conditions in Bahrain added an extra veil of uncertainty regarding the true F1 2025 grid order, with Day 2 taking place during temperatures much cooler than typical in the nation, while rain also interrupting the morning session, before returning in the afternoon with a lower intensity.

And it was on Day 2 where a potential concern with the W16 was flagged up for Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who had not seen the kind of competitiveness he had expected in the chillier conditions which last season suited their W15.

Speaking to the media, including PlanetF1.com, in Bahrain, Wolff admitted that he was “a bit worried at the moment because that should be conditions where we should be two seconds quicker than everybody else, which was the only highlight last year in terms of performance in Las Vegas, and we are not.

“So either we’ve remedied the problem and we are more balanced through all the climate conditions, or not.”

The F1 2025 campaign begins with the Australian Grand Prix, at which point we will see where the 10 teams truly stack up at the start of a 24-round season.

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