"There is certainly more to find" - Mercedes claims it is still learning with the new car

Mercedes engineer Andrew Shovlin revealed that the team still has a learning curve ahead with its new design philosophy on the car. Explaining their woes in a team statement, the trackside engineering director claimed they have not been able to achieve the perfect balance with their new package at the Bahrain circuit.

Addressing the differences in progress between Barcelona and Bahrain, Shovlin said:

“Compared to Barcelona it’s been harder to get the car well-balanced around the lap here. We do seem to have made a bit of progress through the day but it’s always difficult to judge accurately here as the falling temperature tends to flatter everything you do later in the day.”

The Mercedes engineer believes the varying temperatures in the Gulf state make it difficult to judge their performance and progress.

Commenting on the new upgrade on their car, the Silver Arrows team engineer said:

“We’ve got quite a lot of work still to do regarding validation of the update kit and will continue the data collection programme over the next few days so it’s a bit early to say whether everything is working as expected.”

Shovlin claimed that it was too early to evaluate the progress of the new car. He said the team will analyze the data over the next two days as well to arrive at a clear picture of where the car stands when compared to its rivals.

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Mercedes believe they have their work cut out for next two days of Bahrain test

While Mercedes raised brows in the paddock with their extreme design concept, the car was not as agile around the Sakhir circuit as expected. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell managed to complete 122 laps in the car but were unable to attempt sprint runs. Apart from struggling with the balance of the car, Shovlin revealed that they also faced tire overheating in the warmer temperatures.

Explaining their technical issues and the work ahead, Shovlin said:

“There is certainly more to find in getting the balance right between slow and high-speed corners, and there’s also a bit too much tyre overheating. So, plenty to keep us busy for the next two days but we are on a steep learning curve with the new car and tyres - we’ll analyse what we have from today and hopefully make a step forward for tomorrow.”

While their design was the talk of the paddock, their rivals Red Bull and Ferrari were underwhelmed by the concept. In terms of pace, Russell clocked the ninth-fastest lap of the day, while Hamilton was classified 11th on the timesheets. From their first day of performances in Bahrain, it seems that they struggled to get their package working on the desert circuit.