F1 | Mercedes, Bottas: “Ferrari is close, they are faster than in Melbourne”

After the victory in Melbourne, Valtteri Bottas wants to confirm his good form in Bahrain too. In Sakhir, however, Mercedes does not appear to be the absolute dominator, with a Ferrari in great shape at least on the first day of testing. Just like Hamilton, the Finn also had problems with the balance of the car, inevitably casting an eye on the performance of the Ferrari, which was decidedly more on the ball compared to the Australian weekend.

“FP1 is always a bit difficult in Bahrain, because the track is still a bit dusty and the temperatures are much higher than those we will find in qualifying and the race – Bottas said. The balance of the car wasn't great in the first session, but after changing something the car improved a lot in FP2. It looks like we are close to the Ferraris, they are clearly faster than in Melbourne, so we will have some work to do to improve the set-up of our car, but I have left some room for improvement. Tomorrow will be a tough battle, which could make qualifying very exciting."