© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Asked about the problems Mercedes experienced during testing, team boss Toto Wolff admitted the team is not as prepared as it was in previous years.
Mercedes’ 2021 car – the W12 turned out to be a handful for drivers during 2021 pre-season testing. This prompted team boss Toto Wolff to compare it to 2017’s W08, that also proved to be problematic at certain points.
“We’ve had some great performances over the years and that is why everyone is saying that we are sandbagging,” the Austrian told ORF.
“I think that we were the team that was running with the most fuel, but regardless the car was a bit toxic to drive and fairly unstable, especially with the crosswind.
“It seems like we have a small diva, like the car from two years ago, that we haven’t really understood yet.”
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This, combined with only three days of pre-season testing this year, means Mercedes is not as prepared for the start of the season, as it was in previous years.
“The fact that we only had a few days of testing certainly didn’t help. We haven’t yet understood the car the way we want to.
“We have some small issues that we have to resolve, so we certainly aren’t as prepared as previous years,” concluded Wolff.
However, it’s important to note that the W08 also took home both the drivers’ and the constructors’ title, so we are not too worried ahead of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix this Sunday!
