Wolff voices expectations Mercedes: 'That seems to be the case so far'

Mercedes did not make the strongest possible start during the winter test in Bahrain, even Toto Wolff has to admit. However, the team boss stressed that important lessons were learned from the test days and that there are "good indications" about which direction the team should take.

Wolff cannot deny that the winter test at the Bahrain International Circuit did not go entirely according to plan. "We had some reliability problems and struggled with the car set-up on day two," the 51-year-old Austrian explained in a Mercedes press release.

Wolff: 'Mercedes expected having to play catch-up'

However, the main goal would have been achieved: learning a lot about the car in which George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will drive in the 2023 Formula 1 season. "We made good progress on the final day, which gave us directions to work on in the short period between the test and this weekend's race," the Mercedes team boss continued.

Even though he hinted that Red Bull Racing might start the season with a lead, at the same time Wolff does not want to make any concrete predictions based on three days of testing. "Our expectations were that we would likely be playing catch-up to the front, based on how last year ended. That seems to be the case so far but we will only know for sure after this weekend," Wolff said.