Bottas: Mercedes used testing time effectively

Valtteri Bottas believes Mercedes used their time in Barcelona efficiently during winter testing. Early predictions put them behind Ferrari but the Finn is sure the team achieved what they set out to during the two weeks.

Mercedes surprised everyone by unveiling a drastically different car compared to the W10 they used during the initial week of testing. With the introduction of a number of new aerodynamic upgrades, the team only had four days to test the new components.

After the test had wrapped up, Bottas defended Mercedes' decision and added the team had made a sizable step forward since the first week.

"That’s the final day of testing done, next time we’ll drive the W10, it will be in Melbourne. We’ve used our time here on track in Barcelona efficiently, learning a lot and improving our performance over the past two weeks.

"We’ve also learnt that the competition is going to be very, very tough this year, but we’re looking forward to the challenge.

“We need to keep pushing and find more performance if we want to be competitive in Melbourne, but we have a strong team and have made good progress in the last few days.”

Mercedes might have made a step forward but they are still behind Ferrari according to some calculations within the paddock, the gap standing at around three-tenths of a second.

Although it is not the smallest of gaps to make up, Bottas added he was sure his team would find something between now and the season-opening race in Melbourne,

“We have a few days left to work on the car, so we will give it everything. I’m looking forward to Melbourne!”