Today marked the beginning of the 2023 season as teams and drivers headed out on track in Bahrain for the first two sessions of free practice – and it was a tough one for Mercedes.
It was another telling day for the team who ran into a number of issues across the day. FP1 started off promising for the Mercedes team after Hamilton arrived on track and quickly placed his W14 into 4th – just over a second off the pace, with Verstappen just ahead of him in third.
They had a quiet session and as it came to a close Lewis Hamilton was in tenth and was 2.159s off the pace, with George Russell behind in 11th and 2.292s off Sergio Perez’s time.
First FP1 of 2023 ✅ Ready for the next one. pic.twitter.com/J1X7hKG4iE
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 3, 2023
When FP2 began later on Friday, Mercedes threw on some soft tyres straight away, having stuck to the mediums throughout the opening practice session.
The team may have hoped for a better run on the faster tyres in cooler conditions, however, Lewis Hamilton was 0.573s off Leclerc and George Russell is a further tenth off as things kicked off.
Then, with around 26 mins left in the session, George Russell jumped on the team radio to ask the team to take a look at how his floor was holding up.
“Please check the floor. I went a bit wide at the exit of 7. Had a big wobble,” he told the Mercedes pitwall.
As the chequered flag waved, the young British driver was still complaining of some issues with his Mercedes and confirmed: “Lots of disturbance aerodynamically down the straight”.
They finished the day with Hamilton in a slightly improved 8th place while George Russell was in 13th and struggling to control his car.
Wrapping up Friday in Bahrain 🏁 pic.twitter.com/AKYMjjjoov
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 3, 2023
