Are Mercedes keeping their cards hidden the first week?

Mercedes have been reasonably calm during the first days of testing and haven’t done much worthy of notice other than a stockpile of laps for both Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. But is this a conscious tactic from the team?

Both drivers finished eleventh and twelfth place on Wednesday in terms of quickest lap, with Ferrari one and a half to two seconds quicker than them. What does this say about the difference between the two teams?

Technical analyst Gary Anderson told Motorsport that Mercedes are perhaps not where they hoped: “The car has to drive a certain lap time, it's there so they only know where they are.

“On Thursday, Mercedes is looking for more performance, I think they are not yet where they should be. only when you change the tyres to for example a softer type that you also change the balance."

Continuing to test is still the option for the silver arrows to discover more about the car. Whether there is a self-assurance that the car can perform better, it’s just a subdued revealing of it at the moment remains the question. Hamilton and Toto Wolff have already underlined their focus for the season but Hamilton has said that the car feels “very different” with saying whether this was a positive or a negative.