Valtteri Bottas has described the Mercedes W12 as “undriveable” during practice for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, insisting the team has “plenty of work to do” if they’re to compete for pole and the victory this weekend.
Although Bottas was fifth quickest in second practice, just +0.371s adrift of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, it was the longer run pace he struggled with when the car is running a full tank of fuel.
“The last long run we did was pretty inconsistent, and I couldn’t really put any laps together as the car was, as I said, undriveable at times. A bit of a puzzle but it’s Friday and that’s why we practice.”
However the Finn says the team have made some progress since testing at the same venue a fortnight ago, but says there’s still some way to go if they’re to fight at the front.
“First of all, it felt better than in testing, in terms of how the car was feeling, etc. So that’s good, but it also felt like we’re not quite there yet with the car balance,” explained Bottas.
“At least it was a trouble-free day, with no big issues, but now the main thing is my mind is that we still have plenty of work to do if we want to fight for the pole and for the win.
“I think the inconsistency in the balance and, especially, the rear end of the car was one big highlight. In terms of set-up approach, we tried to make it better and, like I said, it does feel better but it’s not quite yet what I would like to have underneath, but it’s not only one thing, it’s multiple things that we are working on, and, at least, we’ve still got tonight and tomorrow morning to figure it out.”
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