Pre-season testing provides teams with three days to get to grips with their new cars, trial new ideas and fix any unexpected issues.
Mercedes’ three days in Bahrain have provides some highs and some lows, with their testing experience ending much better than it started.
Day one saw the W14 take to the track for time in official testing and while the car appears to have left Mercedes’ porpoising issues in the past, it struggled with balance.
Lewis Hamilton was seen struggling on the exits of corners and slightly lost control of the car on multiple occasions.
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The lap times set on Thursday were nowhere near the times set by Red Bull and Ferrari, but this could certainly just be because of the testing plans that the team were executing.
Friday’s testing was also not without its issues, as George Russell was forced to retire from the afternoon following a hydraulics failure.
The final day of testing was much better however, as Lewis Hamilton set a lap time that was only 0.359s slower than session leader Sergio Perez, showing that the team may be capable of battling their rivals.
Lewis Hamilton has admitted that Mercedes still have some issues to solve, with some balance problems carrying over from the W13.
“They’re just things that we’re working though,” he said after Saturday’s morning session.
“Some of the balance limitations that we had last year are just present. So we’re working through them.
“I think it’s difficult to sum it up. I think we’ve had a couple of difficult days.
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“Yesterday, particularly was difficult. The first day didn’t feel too bad, yesterday was a little bit more of a struggle. I think George has had a much better morning today, a bit like the first day.
“I get to go in half an hour, so hopefully we’ve got the set up in a bit of a better place.”
Mercedes team principal has admitted that the team may not be competitive straight away this season, with the general expectation being that the team will bring major upgrades when F1 returns to Europe.