'It looked like Red Bull may have been affected by that more than ourselves'

Mercedes had an excellent first day in Spain. Where Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished in first and third place during the first practice, a few hours later the drivers even achieved P1 and P2. The team can therefore be satisfied with the first day.

Technical director Andrew Shovlin addressed his team's performance in conversation with Sky Sports. Shovlin stated that Mercedes has done a good job. "Both drivers have a decent balance and we look to be in a reasonable place on all compounds," Shovlin stated, who also noted the traffic. "It's a short lap and it looked like Red Bull may have been affected by that more than ourselves so we'll work on the assumption that they are very close on pace and we need to find everything we can overnight."

Prior to the weekend Mercedes were concerned that overheating of the rear of the car would cause problems, but this appears to be under control. "Even in the hotter conditions of the afternoon session. We still have work to do getting the best out of the tyre on low fuel as we didn't find as much time as some but we have a good baseline to work from."

Tension in world championship

Seven-time world champion Hamilton is in first place in the world championship with 69 points after three races. His pursuer Max Verstappen came up short of 61 points for now and is in second position.