Mercedes joined their rival Formula 1 teams for the first day of pre-season testing in Bahrain on Wednesday and revealed some ideas on their new car inspired by Ferrari.
The Silver Arrows and Scuderia will bid to do battle on the track throughout the 2025 season with both titles up for grabs. Mercedes and Ferrari will think the constructors’ championship is there for the taking after McLaren won the 2024 crown to bring Red Bull’s reign to an end.
Ferrari finished last term just 14 points behind McLaren and have further strengthened their ranks with the arrival of Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes. The Silver Arrows only managed P4 in 2024 so will now try to bounce back with Andrea Kimi Antonelli alongside George Russell.
Mercedes utilise Simone Resta’s Ferrari secrets with upgrades unveiled at F1 Testing
Mercedes even improved their ranks with a raid on Ferrari after poaching Simone Resta. The Italian engineer left the Scuderia last May to take the role of strategic development engineer in Brackley come October, and he also became their deputy technical designer in November.
While the Silver Arrows were already far down the road in designing their 2025 F1 car by the time that Resta arrived, he has spilt some of the Scuderia’s secrets. RacingNews365 claims Resta used some of Ferrari’s methods to help Mercedes change their sidepods and air inlets.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about F1 2025 Pre-Season Testing in Bahrain
Mercedes have heavily modified their sidepods and air inlets on the W16 that Antonelli and Russell will race from the W15 that Hamilton piloted last season. The inlets have been cut to horizontal slits, whilst increasing the undercut to improve the airflow to the rear of their car.
The sidepods are a signature of Resta’s lengthy tenure for Ferrari, particularly with the SF70 and SF71H which the Scuderia ran in 2017 and 2018. Mercedes have taken onboard Resta’s advice from how Ferrari helped Sebastian Vettel come second to Hamilton in those seasons.
Mercedes will hope Simone Resta’s secrets bridge their gap to Ferrari in the Australian GP
Russell does not want to jump to any conclusions about Mercedes’ 2025 F1 car after testing the W16 on the first day in Bahrain. But the Briton will hope the secrets that Resta shared in his first few months in Brackley have at least now moved the Silver Arrows nearer to Ferrari.
He could also enjoy some optimism as Antonelli seems confident in Mercedes’ 2025 F1 car after also lapping the W16 as F1 Testing kicked off on Wednesday. Yet the Silver Arrows will not know if Resta has helped them close the gap to Hamilton’s new crew until the first race.
Mercedes had to watch on as Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz returned from appendicitis surgery to win the 2024 Australian Grand Prix following Red Bull’s Max Verstappen retiring with his brake failure. Hamilton and Russell retired in Melbourne last year without being in the mix.
Hamilton retired with a power unit failure on Lap 17 of 58, while Russell crashed out of the 2024 Australian GP fighting Fernando Alonso for P6. Russell was also Mercedes’ lead driver in qualifying in only P7, 0.539 seconds back from Sainz in P2 and 0.809 Verstappen on pole.
