Mercedes better balanced, but: "The pace is still lacking"

Like for Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, Friday in Bahrain did not go entirely smoothly for Mercedes. For the German team, this was compounded by the fact that it was quite behind the pace of not only Red Bull, but also Aston Martin.

Mercedes still lacking pace

Mercedes struggled particularly in the first free practice, although the medium tyres seemed to perform better than during the winter test. "In the test we were finding that compound difficult to get into a good balance window but today seemed little better," concluded Andrew Shovlin in a Mercedes press release.

The balance may be better than before, but in terms of pace, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell still fell short even in the second free practice session. "We made some changes going into the afternoon and the cooler conditions seemed to help in terms of the feel and balance, but the pace is still lacking," Mercedes' Trackside Engineering Director continued.

"Single lap seems more of an issue than the long run but neither are good enough, so we've clearly got some work to do", Shovlin said. In the night from Friday to Saturday, Mercedes will therefore have to get down to business if it wants to compete with Ferrari and Aston Martin. "We've got some ideas to evaluate overnight so hopefully we can put together a package of changes that will help," Shovlin said.