© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix Toto Wolff and Valtteri Bottas gave their opinion on where Mercedes stands in the F1 pecking order.
With Red Bull proving to be the dominant force is pre-season testing, many are expecting a hard fought battle throughout the season. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says his team is on the back foot as the start of the season
“We are definitely not the strongest force now,” Wolff told Kronen Zeitung.
“If we take everything there was before, including the seven world championship titles, and turn it to zero, then Red Bull will certainly have the fastest car.
“That doesn’t mean it will stay that way. We will defend ourselves with everything we have.”
However Wolff says there are no shortcuts and easy fixes.
“The car is very sensitive, the rear is unstable. By trimming the floor, the airflow that is directed around the tyres is disturbed. Downforce is lost.
“Cars with a steeper rake, like the Red Bull, seem to suffer less than we do,” concluded Wolff.
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Valtteri Bottas also agrees the 2021 season will be extremely close.
“As a team we’ve tried to maximize the limited time we’ve had,” the Finn explained.
“In testing, day one was not ideal, but then days two and three were much more productive.
“The time between the test and the first race, that is about to happen this weekend, has been full gas for everyone, trying to find how we can make the package quicker, to make sure we take all the learnings we can for this weekend, and what is the direction to move forward. And it’s such a long season ahead.
“Up to this point, everyone has worked as hard as possible, including us drivers. As a main threat, you just don’t know and it can obviously change throughout the year but, at least from testing, Red Bull seemed strong.
“I think it’s going to be closer than any year before, at least recently,” concluded Bottas.
