Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell's 2023 Bahrain pre-season testing schedule revealed

Right before the 2023 F1 pre-season testing, Mercedes revealed their schedule and the drivers who will be working over the next three days. This year, F1 will only have one pre-season test before launching into the season. Bahrain will host the pre-season test as well as the first race of the season. Haas was the first team to reveal their driver schedule, while the Silver Arrows were the last.

Mercedes has revealed that both drivers will be working during the three-day test, each taking one of the two sessions per day. The first session on the first day will start with George Russell, and Lewis Hamilton will be taking on the second session. On the second day, the pair will switch positions, followed by the last day of testing, where Russell will once again drive in the first session and Hamilton will take the last session and end the pre-season testing for the team.

Since F1 drivers are used to two pre-season tests, several of them, including George Russell, have voiced their opinions on how the lack of time during testing might affect them and their teams. Back in 2022, all the teams got two pre-season tests, especially because of the massive regulation changes that were imposed. Now, however, each driver will only get one and a half days' worth of testing.

After a poor 2022 F1 season, Mercedes will be trying everything to get back on top and fight for the world championship against Red Bull and Ferrari. The pre-season test will reveal quite a lot in terms of the performance of their car and how it compares to other teams.

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Toto Wolff claims how Mercedes' W13 sidepods were not the problem

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff recently discussed how their 2022 challenger's zero-sidepod design was not the reason why they were unable to perform. The zero-sidepod design was a head-turner last season since only the British team was implementing the concept. Hence, many people speculated that it was the fundamental reason for the team's poor performance. However, the team's boss thinks otherwise.

Speaking to the media, Wolff said:

“Our sidepod design is not something that we believe was fundamentally the reason why we didn’t perform. There is no holy cows in our concept, it’s not that we don’t want to follow anybody’s ideas, we kept with the narrow sidepod as it is. But it’s not the core fundamental performance part as we judge.”

He further added:

“W13 certainly had performance which we never were able to unlock and put all its downforce on the ground.”

On several occasions, Toto Wolff and other technical heads of the team have mentioned how the W13 always had the potential to perform, but the team was simply unable to extract it. Hence, they went with the same concept in 2023 and will try their best to unleash the car's full potential.