Lewis Hamilton admits Mercedes is aware it’s “not yet where we want to be” with its 2024 Formula 1 car but is confident the team has a “great platform” to start the season from.
Mercedes has committed to a revised car concept with its W14 as it bids to recover from recent blemishes that saw it endure a first winless season since 2011 last term.
Having ditched the ‘zeropod’ solution, the German marque has endeavoured to produce a car that has dialled out the “spiteful” rear-end traits of its predecessor.
With Red Bull’s testing pace looking ominous once again, Hamilton concedes that Mercedes has work to do to return to a position of challenging for regular victories.
However, the seven-time champion, who will depart for Ferrari in 2025, believes the Brackley-based squad is better placed this time around to work on bridging that deficit.
“Overall, it’s been a really good test. I’m really proud of everyone trackside and those back at the factory,” Hamilton said.
“Every single woman and man has been working tirelessly, both at Brackley, Brixworth, and here in Bahrain. It’s massively encouraging and great to see everyone working so well together. The focus, determination, and communication is the best I’ve ever seen.
“We know we’ve got work to do and we’re not yet where we want to be. We knew that would be the case coming into the test though. We’ve got a great platform to build on.
“We’ll go away and work hard over the next couple of days to go through all the data from the test.
I’m really excited for the start of the season next week and we’ll be heading into it in good shape.”
George Russell showcased a glimmer of Mercedes’ potential late in the test with a time on the C4 compound that took him within 0.046s of topping the timesheets.
The Briton predicts that Red Bull will retain a sizeable advantage, but he has concurred with Hamilton’s assessment that Mercedes has a stronger base to now develop from.
Russell added: “We’ve had a solid three days here in Bahrain. We managed to get through all of our planned programme, despite the stoppages.
“The car has been handling well and correlates to the feeling we had on the simulator ahead of coming here. We’ve got a very good base to build from.
“We’re aware that there’s a lot more lap time to find. We knew that would be the case ahead of the test, and Red Bull are looking very strong once again.
“Nevertheless, I’m confident that we’re in a much better place than we were 12 months ago.
“The team at Brackley and Brixworth have done a great job to get us into this position and with a car that is a step in the right direction.
“We now need to focus on firstly getting the most out of the package we have and secondly, adding more downforce and trying to close that gap.”
Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin believes the team has been successful in addressing the limitations that were embedded within its inconsistent W14.
“We’ve had three useful days here in Bahrain and managed to make good progress understanding the W15,” Shovlin said.
“Compared to last year’s car, the feedback from the drivers is very different and more positive, which is encouraging.
“The team has worked hard to iron out the handling flaws that were integral to the W14, and it’s great that we seem to have put a number of those problems behind us.
“Over the course of the test we’ve made good steps on our understanding of the car. The task of the next few days is to pick through the results and put together the best package to take into the race weekend.
“It’s never easy to make predictions on pace from testing, as all teams are quite effective at hiding their pace when they want to. It’s clear that we are in a much better position than 12 months ago though.
“We’ve got a busy few days ahead now making our final preparations for the season-opener, and we’re already looking forward to the race weekend and the season ahead.”
