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Mercedes is determined to close the gap to the front-running teams in the upcoming races. F1 had its first race of the season in Bahrain last week and this week is the quick turnaround for the teams as they prepare for their first back-to-back race of the season.
In such a small turnaround time, it makes it tough for teams to analyze what went wrong in the previous races as well as get the upgrades ready before the next one. Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has however revealed that the German team is trying everything possible to cut the gap to the front. Speaking to the media, he said:
"I think we'll get some easy gains, I think there is some low-hanging fruit and what we're hoping is that we can get those in the next race or two. We're working race by race at the moment. The factory is primed to bring absolutely anything they can in the next few days."
He added:
"We're learning with every day. Every time the car is out on track, there is a lot of work going on in the factory, trying to understand the science of what is going on but we are learning every day and if we have got something useful to bring to Jeddah, we'll make sure we can get it there on the car."
Mercedes: It's a lot of everything!
Mercedes was around half a second slower than the fastest cars in the Bahrain GP. The drivers did not look as comfortable inside the car as compared to the other teams.
The car was bouncing a lot in the straights and appeared to have an impact on the laptime as well as tire degradation. When questioned on where the car is lacking, Shovlin said:
"There is a lot of everything!! There is bouncing, the balance is poor, there is a lack of low-speed grip, we're struggling on traction, the drivability could be better, the tire warm-up is not good enough and the car's a bit on the heavy side."
He also said:
"There is a lot for us to work on but by the same measure, there is a lot for us to improve and that gives us some encouragement because a year ago when we were here in Bahrain, that list of areas to improve wasn't as big as it is now."
Despite falling back on the development curve, Mercedes seems to have kept a positive outlook on things and will be hoping to close down the gap as soon as possible.
