World champions on back foot in Bahrain, but not worried over W09
Thursday 13 December 2018 12:18, UK
Mercedes do not have another 'diva' on their hands with their 2018 car despite being outperformed by Ferrari so far at the Bahrain GP, says Toto Wolff.
Despite appearing to have the fastest car after winter testing and then at the Melbourne season-opener, Mercedes were unable to find an answer to Ferrari's impressive pace in the desert in qualifying and saw their rivals lock out the front row for Sunday's race.
Wolff famously christened last year's W08 a 'diva' after several difficult races early in the season - including Bahrain - but says the W09 is not presenting the same problems.
"It's different. She is not a diva," Wolff, Mercedes' team principal and CEO, told reporters.
"The drivers feel that the car is very much together but we just lacked the pace [in qualifying] here."
Hamilton braced for hardest race
Wolff and Mercedes' drivers had warned of the likelihood of a stronger challenge from their two chief rivals in 2018 at the end of last season, but some observers had suggested after testing that the world champions' advantage may have even increased over the winter.
"I said straight from the beginning that it would be a season where it's going to be much tougher, particularly against Ferrari and Red Bull. I was genuine about it and I meant it," said Wolff.
"You can see that a track like Bahrain with a very abrasive surface and lots of heat, we struggle. On the soft [tyre] the car is much better but putting the softer compound on, the supersoft, it looks like we are overheating and therefore not extracting the optimum grip."
Valtteri Bottas qualified as the lead Mercedes and starts Sunday's race directly behind the all-red front row in third, while Lewis Hamilton is down in ninth after a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.
