Mercedes trailing Red Bull with an unforgiving rear end?

Early indications from the pre-season test point towards Mercedes trailing Red Bull as the Brackley-based team tackles an uncharacteristic start to the season.

With the pre-season test curtailed to only three days, no team could afford to slip-up. For Mercedes, it has been anything but perfect, with the team suffering from transmission issues on the first day and the car looking a shadow of its usual self on the second day. Even though Valtteri Bottas posted the fastest time on the second day for Mercedes on a low fuel run, the car didn't seem as stable as the Red Bull.

Both Hamilton and Bottas revealed the car needed some work, with Bottas saying the car seemed more unstable than usual.

“As always we really just focused on getting through the program and maximizing the learning and not really looking at lap times,” Valtteri asserted.

Speaking about where the car struggled, Bottas said:

“But still, I would say one of the big issues with the car is the rear end. It’s quite snappy and it's quite unforgiving."

“We are kind of trying to calm the car down a bit and that way trying to get some more pace.”

Man on a mission. pic.twitter.com/D0WHTZLnBg

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) March 12, 2021

Mercedes mileage doesn't worry Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton appears to be pragmatic over Mercedes' prospects as he downplayed suggestions that the team could be worried about limited mileage gained on the engines.

“I think we’re just focusing on trying to understand the car. There’s no point in getting worried just yet. Everyone is focusing on their programs, and that is what we’re doing.”.

💬 "I can’t be jumping around happy - it is only testing. As always, we are just focused on getting through our programme." Shov, Valtteri and LH with the latest from F1 Testing in Bahrain 👇

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 13, 2021

When questioned if the pre-season tests have been useful, Hamilton replied:

“Compared to the past, it’s not been particularly useful."

“We have less mileage than some of the others, like the Red Bulls, so far. We’re just trying to stick to our program and manage the number of laps that we have also, and try to be as efficient as we can.”

The pecking order remains unclear, and is slated to do so until the first qualification session in Bahrain. It seems more likely, however, that Red Bull could pip Mercedes this year.