Mercedes says still not on top of the tyre wear situation - Formula 1 news
The Formula 1 Mercedes team has warned its drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg that they should not take the tyre situation easy at the moment, as the car is
still not there in terms of handling the degradation.
Team principal Ross Brawn claimed, “We have focused our efforts in two key areas; finalising our upgrade package for Spain and understanding our comparative lack
of race pace in Bahrain. We're not there yet but we are making progress and of course, performing in the race is what really counts.”
After the end of the first four races in the 2013 season, Mercedes looks in a better shape compared to last year. They have managed to handle the tyre wear slightly
better, thus their drivers have been able to produce some decent results.
Hamilton in particular has been quite consistent and has finished third on the podium twice in the season. He is currently positioned third in the Drivers’ Championship,
which shows that the car is behaving well.
Therefore, the former McLaren driver stated, “I'm feeling very comfortable in the car now and we know the areas that we need to improve so a lot of effort is being
put in to close that gap to the front-runners. Barcelona should be a good test as we know the circuit so well having completed most of the pre-season test programme there.”
On the other hand, Rosberg agrees with his team-mate saying that the picture will be clearer in the upcoming event. The German will be hoping to score some solid
points with consistency though, as his form until now has not been much impressive.
Although he encountered some technical issues during two out of the total four races until now, he has been beaten consistently in terms of pace by his team-mate.
He did show some improvement in the Bahrain GP, claiming pole position, but that was not enough for him to take away some solid championship points.
The 27-year-old driver was unable to handle the tyre wear situation well enough, which forced him to lose position to his opponents. He finished in ninth place
eventually, which was not what he would have hoped for at the start.
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