A design feature on Mercedes’ new W16 has “been borrowed” from last year’s Red Bull, it has been claimed.

Every F1 2025 car is in action at the three-day F1 Bahrain pre-season test this week.

Among the countless technic♕al tweaks in the 10 garages is a subtle change to the Mercedes that is now driven by Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

As rookie Antonelli🔯 pitted, and his engineers worked on his car’s front left brake drum, Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz was able to notice so🦩mething intriguing.

Mercedes F1 2025 car borrows a Red Bull design

“We’ve talked in the past about people taking design cues from Mercedes,” Kr𒆙avitz said from the edge of their garag♐e.

“I don’t know whether we should call this the black and silver Red ꦏBull? Because they have certainly taken some design cues from Red Bull.

“They have taken it to a more extreme level.

“Beneath the wing mirror, where it says Petronas, you can see that one of the sidepod air intakes is the vertical one th🍃at Red Bull brought to their car last year.

“Look at the overbite, not the underbite that Red Bull started a couple of years ago, but an overbite where the top of the sidepod ai💎r intake extrudes over the bottom lip🍸.

“Look at how extreme it is on this Mercedes.

“🌌ไIt’s a different design to what Mercedes had last year. They have borrowed it from Red Bull, that’s definitely fair to say.

“There are some other design cue𝓰s around this car which make it look like last yea🧔r’s Red Bull.

“They have stayed with the push rod suspension, which is something that Ferrari and Red Bull do ꦫnot have.”

The more significant change at Mercedes is, of course, the presen𝓰ce of Antonelli in the ca🐎r where Lewis Hamilton previously was.

Antonelli took charge of Mercedes’ running on the first morning of F1 Bahraꦜin pre-season testing,📖 after his lengthy mileage in various specs of his new team’s machines to prepare him for this season.

Hamilton was on track at the sꦚame time testing his Ferrari.