Having struggled so badly in 2022, Mercedes were tipped for a quick return to the top this season, with the team supposed to have left the issues of the W13 in the past.
While the Silver Arrows do appear to have solved the porpoising issues which plagued them last year, the W14 still has issues.
George Russell was forced to retire from a testing session last week due to a similar hydraulic problem that forced Lewis Hamilton to retire from the last race of last season.
The W14 also struggled with balance issues, leaving both Hamilton and Russell struggling on the exit of corners during testing and practice.
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Lewis Hamilton qualified in P7 in Bahrain, one position behind his teammate George Russell and the Brit has slammed his team for failing to provide him with a car capable of qualifying higher, despite recent improvements.
“We did a lot of work overnight with the engineers, they did a great job and we made a step forward today,” began the Brit.
“The car was feeling much more alive this morning and all of a sudden we were in a different place than we were the day before.
“But then when we got to qualifying the car just didn’t feel alive, it felt kind of average. The direction I’m going with setup I’m hoping works better for tomorrow. I’ve tried to set it up for tomorrow.”
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Red Bull dominated qualifying and locked out the front row, with both Ferraris just behind them.
Mercedes qualified in similar positions last year and managed to score a podium after Red Bull’s dramatic late double DNF and the Silver Arrows will be hoping to take advantage of any incidents ahead of them this year.
Hamilton and Russell simply do not currently have a car capable of challenging Red Bull and Ferrari meaning that barring any unexpected circumstances, the two Mercedes drivers will be battling with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll of Aston Martin for a reasonable haul of points.