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Mercedes weren't their usual confident self after the pre-season test ended in Bahrain. The reigning world champions faced multiple issues with their car, as well as parts they supplied to other teams.
Throughout the pre-season test, Mercedes have not looked as quick as Red Bull. Now, the Silver Arrows have conceded that Red Bull could have the edge over them.
Mercedes trackside engineer Andrew Shovlin has revealed that the team is behind Red Bull, according to data gathered from the pre-season test.
Shovlin said:
"We've made a bit of progress with the balance on higher fuel and the car was more predictable but we can see from the data we've collected over the last few days that on race pace, we're not as quick as Red Bull."
Speaking about the team's low fuel runs, Shovlin asserted:
"The lower fuel work was a more confusing picture...too many cars were ahead of us on pace today. We've had issues in recent years with pace in winter testing and managed to make good progress before the first race but we may have our work cut out this time."
When asked about the team's efforts to find lost pace, Shovlin said:
"We've not got long before we're back here for the race so we've planned a program of work to try and understand some of our issues and will be leaving no stone unturned in our efforts to find some more speed over the next 10 days."
Beginning of the end for Mercedes?
The reigning champions have been caught off-guard. The team suffered transmission issues on the first day. The team lost more track time on the second day as Lewis Hamilton spun and beached his car near Turn 13.
In the little running that the car has got, it hasn't looked the quickest by any margin. The team has one of the lowest lap counts in pre-season testing and haven't shown the blistering pace they are accustomed to. Could this be the beginning of the end for Mercedes' domination?
