Mercedes: Toto Wolff worried about a “two-second” gap after Bahrain F1 pre-season tests. Mercedes faces a "two-second" gap that concerns Toto Wolff after the Bahrain F1 tests.

F1 leaves Bahrain after three days of on-track testing, but a “two-second” margin still worries Mercedes and Toto Wolff. The Austrian is satisfied with the W16’s performance, a car that provides “more confidence” to both drivers and engineers. However, doubts remain regarding Thursday’s performance when temperatures dropped, and McLaren appeared untouchable in race pace.

Trying to extract too much information from pre-season testing is often more of a mental exercise for amusement than a truly useful analysis. Only the teams know their own test programs, and while they are certainly better informed than outsiders, even they struggle to establish a provisional hierarchy. In short, for a definitive picture, we must wait for the Melbourne Grand Prix.

That said, some details are clear. The MCL39, for instance, is undoubtedly a well-designed car and perhaps already ahead of the competition. The SF-25 has also shown very positive signs, but Maranello will need to find a more efficient balance. As for Mercedes, the paddock is divided: some place it solidly as the third-best team, while others suggest it could even challenge Woking.

Toto Wolff and the “two seconds” lost on Thursday
One detail that did not go unnoticed by Toto Wolff was Thursday’s performance. The Brackley team, which was consistently strong in cooler conditions last season, did not seem to enjoy a clear performance boost.

“I’m a bit worried at the moment because, in these conditions, we should be two seconds faster,” the Austrian explained, as reported by RacingNews365. “It was our only strength last year in terms of performance, like in Las Vegas, but now it isn’t anymore. Maybe we’ve solved the issue and have more balance in all weather conditions.”

“Sometimes we’ve taken directions that turned out to be wrong, and [on Wednesday] we tried something in the afternoon that didn’t work, it wasn’t great. But this is a car that gives us more confidence, and that was what we lacked last year. It seems to be a small step forward, but we have no idea about fuel loads, and the conditions were not representative.” – the Mercedes team boss concluded.