Bottas hoping Mercedes have solved tyre issues

The only real issue for Mercedes during testing was the wear they suffered on the softer compounds of tyres, including graining. With three of the softest four compounds set to be used in Australia, Valtteri Bottas is expecting the problem to be resolved.

Bottas won three races in his first Mercedes season last year after replacing the retiring world champion Nico Rosberg.

Bottas spoke to the media in Melbourne, saying: “Definitely there are a lot of question marks, and we have only really tested the tyres properly with the new car in Barcelona.

“It’s a unique track and it was resurfaced so we don’t have that much data for the whole season yet.

“For the first race, Melbourne is a very different circuit, so for sure we have had to estimate many things with the car set up and tyre allocation – how many different sets we will be using, so I think Friday practice is really going to be crucial.

“At least our car in Barcelona was working well. We had some difficulties working with the softer compounds, but this is Melbourne, it’s different, so hopefully it’s going to be good here.”

The soft, supersoft and ultrasoft tyres are available to the teams for the Australian GP this weekend.