Mercedes deploys two cars during film day: Test of an update or setup?

Mercedes F1 Media

F1 News

17 March 2021 at 09:32
Last update 17 March 2021 at 11:19
  • GPblog.com

Mercedes came into action one more time on the Bahrain circuit on Tuesday and that keeps the mindset busy. The fact that Mercedes appeared with two cars on the track, might be an important hint.

Mercedes has dominated Formula 1 for the last seven years, but in the winter test in Bahrain Mercedes disappointed. The champions of the last years drove the least amount of laps and the car seemed hardly controllable. A gearbox problem on the first day was just the beginning of the problems.

Problems for Mercedes

Many pointed the finger at Mercedes saying that they could have avoided the gearbox problems if they, like all other teams, had used a filming day to let the car do some laps. Mercedes however had planned this for after the test in Bahrain.

Rumour has it that Mercedes did the actual update for the W12 during the filming day. The floor of the W12 was new in Bahrain, but apart from that one couldn't find out what Mercedes had spent the tokens on. Would Mercedes come up with updates during the film day? The question though is how much can you do with 100 kilometres?

Two W12's in action

Mercedes drove those 100 kilometres on Tuesday with two cars. Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were in action at the same time, and while there was some stunning footage shot, Mercedes will also have been looking for more information. Did Mercedes use two cars to compare the new updates, or is there something else going on?

It also became clear in Bahrain that Mercedes are struggling with the balance of the new W12. The Germans seem to suffer more from the new regulations than Red Bull Racing, so it could be that Mercedes used two cars to give each car a different setup. Whether this has helped will be seen during qualifying in Bahrain.