Mercedes' Toto Wolff feels new regulations have set the team back

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff cited crucial regulation changes as one of the reasons for losing a chunk of its competitiveness this season. During the team principals' press conference, Toto Wolff explained why Mercedes were not as dominant as they were during the last few years, and what exactly went wrong.

"With us, testing didn't go so smoothly,” said Wolff. “We lost quite some time with little gremlins and never found the sweet spot of the car. There was a lot of work being done in the last 10 days in between and I think we've found the paths forward that make the car more predictable. Even if it looks like it was a carry-forward car [from 2020 to 2021], I think we probably suffered more with the change of regulations than the cars with the higher rake, and the Red Bull has followed that concept for many years. So it's maybe more difficult for us to recover some of the lost downforce."

💬 "We’re definitely in the mix. McLaren looked strong today, so too Red Bull as expected." Debriefing Friday in Bahrain with Shov, Lewis and VB 👇

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 26, 2021

“But so far, what I've seen and what I hope is that we can have a really tough fight; it's what the fans want to see and what we would like to have,” Wolff added. “I think if we are behind, then we just need to catch up and do a good job. If we're just about on the same pace – which I would consider today maybe as the best possible scenario for us – then we're up for the fight with another great team.”

When questioned whether it was mainly the small setup changes that enabled the Mercedes' behavior to improve, Wolff said: "It wasn't minor balance changes. It was rethinking the sweet spot of the car, also in combination with the tires."

"The snappiness on the rear is much better and now it’s about tuning it for the meaningful sessions....and seeing whether the car is still behaving nicer than in testing or not.”

Hard to pick between Red Bull and Mercedes

Work to do. 👏 That's your lot for the first F1 Friday of 2021! pic.twitter.com/hfVCZBpDHq

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 26, 2021

Mercedes looked more like its usual self during practice sessions in Bahrain as the appeared more responsive and easier to drive than it did during the pre-season test.

Although Bottas struggled on the long runs, going so far as to call the car "undrivable," teammate Lewis Hamilton was competitive throughout the day and even seemed to possess a slight edge over Red Bull in terms of long-run pace.

Both Mercedes and Red Bull seem about on par with each other at the moment, and fans can expect a close battle to be fought between them in Saturday's qualifying and during the race on Sunday.