George Russell says it is “important not to jump to any conclusions” after completing a filming day behind the wheel of the Mercedes W16 in Bahrain.

Having unveiled the W16 in a handful of renderings on Monday, the new car hit the track 24 hours later for a filming day ahead of the start of pre-season testing on Wednesday.

George Russell reacts to driving Mercedes W16 in Bahrain

As outlined by our tech guru Matt Somerfield, the W16 features a revised nose, changes to the front wing, redesigned floor and rear suspension, as well as a new-look shark fin engine cover.

Russell put the first laps on the W16 before handing the car over to his new team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the Italian teenager replacing Lewis Hamilton following the seven-time World Champion’s move to Ferrari.

Although Mercedes released a few videos of the team-mates in action, the team did not disclose any data such as the lap times or lap count.

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Russell too wouldn’t give the game away when he asked for his first impressions of the 2025 Mercedes F1 car.

“It’s great to finally get behind the wheel of the W16,” he said. “Obviously so many months of hard work.

“The morning was silky smooth, signed off everything with the car, the lots of filming and good preparation ahead of the next three days.

“There definitely are some first impressions, which I’ll keep with myself for the time being and the team.

“But as I said, there’s just been so much hard work going into his new car.

“It’s important not to jump to any conclusions, because we know after last year [that] circuit to circuit, the performance fluctuations were massive from all of the teams, but from what I feel so far, I’m happy.”

Although Mercedes recovered from 2023’s winless campaign to score four victories last year, the Brackley squad fell to fourth in the Constructors’ Championship behind McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull.

As for Russell, he was sixth in the Drivers’ standings with Hamilton seventh in his final campaign with the Silver Arrows. This season Russell is hoping to be in the thick of the fight.

“Super excited for the year ahead,” he said. “Always this time of year is filled with anticipation.

“The next three days are going to be great, but going to Melbourne, great to be returning there for the first race, and hopefully we’re fighting on our hands.”

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