Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes Formula 1 trackside engineering director, admits to the gap which requires “more work to do”. He commented after the three day testing which identified the strengths and weaknesses of the new Mercedes car.
During the testing, the team focused on long runs rather than short but high scores in Bahrain. On the final testing day in Bahrain, George Russell took second place.
Shovlin explained that the team requires “more work to do on a single lap” before it hits the track again on Thursday. F1 will return for the season opening venue and free practice of Bahrain Grand Prix.
“We’re still trying to fine-tune the set-up, there will definitely be more to come,” Shovlin said in a Mercedes social media debrief.
“Overall we’re happy, we definitely made progress. In terms of pace, the long run probably looks like our strength at the moment.
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“There’s more work to do on a single lap, but we should be in a position to hopefully put in a good showing when we get back on track.”
Since new regulatory era of 2022, Hamilton and Russell struggled with their unpredictable car.
Therefore, the team focused on the reliability and stability of the car for W15 project. The same strategy yielded results as evident during the pre-season testing.
“It’s really encouraging that a lot of the problems that the drivers have been talking about the last 12 and even 24 months with W13 and W14, we seem to have got to grips with,” Shovlin added.
Hamilton is content with overall progress of the team on the 2024 car. However, he cautioned that Red Bull will be hard to catch while it will be “out in the distance”. RB20 stole the spotlight in the hands of Max Verstappen with its exceptional long runs.
“It’s much more enjoyable to drive,” Hamilton added. “We still also have time to find, but I think Red Bull clearly are out in the distance. But I think it’s a good platform to work from this year.”
