The Mercedes Formula 1 team will host a 2026 launch event today, Monday 2 February, after unveiling the livery of the W17 on Thursday 22 January on social media. Team principal Toto Wolff will be joined by drivers George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and others, to kick off the Brackley outfit's season.
This comes ahead of Bahrain testing on 11-13 February and 18-20 February. The first race will be the Australian Grand Prix on 6-8 March.
Here is everything you need to know to watch the Mercedes 2026 launch event live.
When is the Mercedes 2026 F1 launch event?
Monday 2 February
Local time: 11:30 GMT
CET: 12:30
PST: 03:30
EST: 06:30
JST: 20:30
CST (China): 19:30
How to watch the Mercedes 2026 F1 launch event
The Mercedes 2026 F1 launch event will be streamed on the team's website and YouTube channel (below).There will also be behind-the-scenes footage released via the Brackley outfit's social media channels.
Who will be at the Mercedes 2026 F1 launch event?
Both drivers, George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, will be present at the launch event on 2 February alongside CEO and team principal Toto Wolff. There will be a panel discussion with the drivers, Wolff and reserve driver Fred Vesti.
Senior members of the technical leadership team are also set to be present to walk through the 2026 regulation changes, and there will be a deep dive into the new sustainable fuels with Mercedes' title and technical partner, PETRONAS, as well.
Mercedes private testing
Mercedes concluded its third and final day of private testing in Barcelona on Thursday 29 January.
"From a reliability perspective, it’s been a good week for us," Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said in a press release. "The car has enabled us to run the programme exactly as we wanted each of the three days and that’s what we hoped for coming here to Barcelona.
"It is a huge testament to the hard work of everyone at Brackley and Brixworth in bringing this car to life. We’ve also made good progress with some of the challenges we saw on days one and two and that is pleasing.
"That said, in Barcelona we have only really been focused on proving out the W17. In Bahrain, we will switch to set-up exploration which you can’t do here when it is so cold. That will give us a much better idea of the car’s relative abilities as we progress towards the 2026 season."
Russell added: "It’s been another decent day and overall, a positive shakedown for us here in Barcelona. The car feels nice to drive but more importantly, we’ve completed plenty of mileage and had no major issues. The minor issues we’ve come across we’ve been able to resolve which is the purpose of such running.
"The car is working well but we know that it is not about the car working well, it’s about how fast it can go. We don’t have any indication of that yet so we will have to wait until Bahrain until we get any indications of the relative pecking order. It’s very early days but we can be pleased with this initial foundation we have put in place.
"It’s an exciting time for our sport with possibly one of the most impactful regulations changes we’ve seen. It’s an honour to be representing Mercedes, particularly as we mark the 140th anniversary of Carl Benz’s invention of the motor car today. It’s quite apt to be behind-the-wheel of such an innovative machine today; I am excited to continue our journey towards the season and look ahead to going racing."
Antonelli also said at the end of testing: "Overall it has been a good shakedown for us. We’ve had our own issues but that hasn’t hindered our running too much. We’ve completed a lot of laps and today, I was able to drive for 90 more in the morning session. That is useful mileage to help build our learning about the W17 and gather plenty of data. We focused on the C3 tyre today but still on longer runs rather than anything performance related. We were able to understand a little more about how the car and the Power Unit reacts to a few different set-up options.
"I am now looking forward to having a few days to work with the team and digest everything from Barcelona. I am already looking forward to being back in the car in Bahrain for the first official test though and continuing the journey towards the start of the season. We will go there with a good understanding of the car and hopefully we can hit the ground running once again.
"It’s very cool to be part of the incredible history of Mercedes innovation, particularly as we put this new car through its paces on the 140th anniversary of Carl Benz registering the patent for the motor car. We are all proud to represent the three-pointed star and I cannot wait to see how we continue to innovate under these new regulations in the months and years ahead."
