Testing was far from perfect for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team.
Valtteri Bottas had a mixed three days. Day one was jeopardised when his car had a transmission issue and he was only able to complete six laps, leaving him bottom of the pack.
His final day of testing didn’t go smoothly either, coming sixteenth overall even though he managed to complete eighty-six laps.
Undoubtedly, the Finnish drivers finest showing was day two when he managed to pull a fastest lap out of the bag.
“Day one was compromised for me so I’m pleased the past two days have been efficient and clean,” Bottas explained. Today, like yesterday, we had plenty of laps and ran good quality tests.
“I’m still not entirely comfortable but we’ve been moving forward and getting better. There’s still more work to do; we’ve collected lots of data over these past few days which we will analyse to help us make the car faster ahead of the first race.
“Time is even more limited now with the recent changes but our recovery from the first day has been very good. I absolutely believe that the car and team has the potential to fight for the title.
“I don’t think the package is quite there yet in terms of performance but I have no doubt it will be. I feel like I’ve had enough time in the car, performing short runs and long runs, and I really feel comfortable and confident. From my side I’m ready and as a team, we will be ready.”
Whether it is a case of Mercedes sandbagging during testing or there are real issues with the car it remains to be seen, it wont be long to wait until we find out though with the first race of the 2021 season just over a week away.
