Mercedes acknowledges: the team is looking for more pace

Mercedes nestling itself in the underdog position. Nothing new, but this year it seems quite realistic to think that it is also the right place. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell already hinted that the team is trailing Red Bull and Ferrari. Andrew Shovlin also acknowledges that there are still steps to be made.

In a Mercedes press release, the trackside engineering director notes that things are not yet going smoothly, but that there are hopeful signs ahead of the first Grand Prix in also Bahrain. "It feels like we need to find a bit of pace if we want to be fighting for the win at the first race but we're learning and developing at a good rate so we'll just focus on those aspects and see where we stand in seven days' time," says Shovlin, who adds just to wait and see where the team stands in a week's time.

On the final day, Mercedes worked hard in many areas. Shovlin indicates that a little progress has been made in reducing porpoising and a step has been taken in finding the right setup. But perfect, it is all certainly not yet. For example, Mercedes is currently struggling to make the harder tires work in the first few laps.

On another front, Shovlin is satisfied: "From a reliability point of view, the chassis and power unit have run without issue which is encouraging to see and testament to a lot of good work in Brackley and Brixworth."