Rosberg – Mercedes: “Being 100% ready before Melbourne”

The Bahrain tests were once again marked by the apparent solidity of the Mercedes, which encountered very few problems and were among the teams to accumulate the most kilometers. Nico Rosberg, who recorded the fastest overall time during these first four days at the Sakhir circuit, expressed his satisfaction.

« We can be very happy with the first tests in Bahrain this week. We completed a lot of laps and learned more about the car with each lap. We did a race simulation, which is crucial for learning new things. There was a lot of feedback from the engineers, so my head is full of information! » he told the media at the end of the last day.

Mercedes is one of the only teams, along with McLaren, that seemed to be looking for performance, which the German driver confirms: “We did some qualification runs and, obviously, the others didn’t have as much fuel as we did, which explains the gaps. It is impossible to know what the others were doing with all these different tires.” Despite everything, he does not want to say too much: “The feeling is positive and it seems quite good, even on the pace, but I don’t want to say more than that.” Nico Rosberg finished at the top of the timesheet for these tests, with a lap in 1:33.283 on the last day, on soft tires.

The driver in car number 6 believes that, despite the impressive handling of the W05, perfection is far from being achieved: « It’s positive for now, and in terms of reliability, I managed to complete a full race distance [yesterday] and that’s good. Nevertheless, the car had a problem afterward, so there is still a long way to go. Issues appear here and there, which is completely normal. »

The goal set in terms of reliability is ambitious: « I think that compared to other teams, we are good in terms of reliability. But we must be 100% bulletproof before Melbourne, which is a huge challenge. »

Regarding, this time, the notable differences with previous seasons in terms of driving and car behavior, Nico Rosberg provides an initial assessment: « We are faster on the straights and slower in the corners. There’s a lot less grip in the corners, so more sliding, and that’s the main issue. You can feel the loss of aerodynamic downforce. »

During this second session of winter testing, Mercedes completed the Sakhir circuit 315 times, covering approximately 1,748.1 km over these four days. Including Jerez, Mercedes has covered around 3,074 km since the start of the season, the highest total among the eleven teams. You can find our complete review of the Bahrain tests.