Mercedes: "Never expected to close the gap in a single step"

Mercedes came out surprisingly strong since the second free practice in Spain, but has to settle for fourth and sixth on the grid. Progress is clearly visible at the team, but Mercedes chief Andrew Shovlin does not yet see the cars where he wants them.

"It's frustrating not to be closer to the front," he said in a Mercedes press release. "We clearly made progress with the car, but we were getting a bit of overheating in the last sector." This caused the cars to slide more, which further increased the temperature.

That problem largely explains the gap to Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, according to Shovlin, but there is also some work to be done with the setup. "It's a very different package that we have brought here and we're still learning how to get the most out of it," the Brit continues.

He says he is looking forward to the race, in which he sees opportunities for Mercedes. "Our long run looked more competitive than our lap on Friday, so hopefully we can put pressure on the cars ahead of us," he continues.

The high tire degradation may make for "interesting strategic options," he continues. "Considering the gaps that we were looking at in the last few races, we never expected to close up in a single step ," Shovlin said.