Home

Mercedes focused on improving F1 qualifying pace with W15

Mercedes acknowledges it has "more work to do" to get single-lap pace out of its new Formula 1 car after dialling out the vices of its predecessors.

The Brackley squad focused on long stints rather than glory runs across the three-day winter test in Bahrain, with George Russell taking second on the final day using softer C4 tyres after he and team-mate Lewis Hamilton had stayed well clear of the top of the leaderboard earlier in the week.

PLUS: Why it's a Red Bull vs Ferrari battle in F1 2024 testing's long run times

Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin explained that his team still had "more work to do on a single lap" when F1 returns to Sakhir on Thursday for Bahrain Grand Prix free practice.

"We're still trying to fine-tune the set-up, there will definitely be more to come," Shovlin said in a Mercedes social media debrief.

"Overall we're happy, we definitely made progress. In terms of pace, the long run probably looks like our strength at the moment.

"There's more work to do on a single lap, but we should be in a position to hopefully put in a good showing when we get back on track."

Ever since F1 moved to 2022's all-new regulations, Hamilton and Russell have struggled with the unpredictable and "vicious" behaviour of Mercedes' cars.

Source: Autosport

Previous

Next