Photo: Mercedes-AMG F1 Team

Ex-F1 driver claims W17 ran ‘seconds' off full potential in Barcelona

18:01, 07 Feb

byTobia Elia

Juan Pablo Montoya believes Mercedes still had plenty in reserve during the Barcelona tests.

“From what I’ve heard, the lap times being set in Barcelona were still three to four seconds away from the car’s full potential”

- Juan Pablo Montoya

Despite ultimately not setting the fastest time of the test — which went to Lewis Hamilton late on — Mercedes showed some encouraging early signs with the new W17 in Barcelona.

Both Kimi Antonelli and George Russell logged a significant amount of mileage, completing a total of 500 laps over the three days, while already demonstrating noteworthy reliability from the new power unit.

However, speaking on the MontoyAS podcast, the Colombian believes the Silver Arrows were still a long way from showing their true potential: “I’ll give you an idea to put things into perspective: from what I’ve heard, the lap times being set in Barcelona were still three to four seconds away from the car’s full potential.

“As always, some will get it right and some will get it wrong. The interesting part is this: if Mercedes really is significantly ahead, then all the Mercedes-powered teams should be strong. It then becomes about figuring out who truly looks competitive, who is missing something, and where everyone actually stands. That’s the reality.”

Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team

Wolff holds fire on W17 potential until Verstappen lays cards on the table

The Austrian, speaking to a small group of media including GPblog, said the early signs from the car were positive, but insisted it was too early to read too much into the data until lap times become genuinely representative.

“We haven’t seen Max push the car, and we haven’t seen McLaren or Ferrari show what they can really do. I’d therefore be careful about saying it was great for us. We simply don’t know.”

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