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Mercedes: W09 not a diva

21:52, 07 Apr 2018

byJake Williams-Smith

The Silver Arrows have struggled all weekend with one-lap and long-run pace.

Toto Wolff has maintained that the W09 is not a diva like the previous championship-winning car. Ferrari has been ahead all weekend at every turn although the Mercedes boss has said their struggles are more track dependent rather than being down to the new car.

"I always said right from the beginning that this was going to be a season where it was going to be much tougher, particularly against Ferrari and Red Bull," Wolff said.

"I was genuine about it and I meant it, and you could see that on a track like Bahrain with a very abrasive surface and lots of heat, we struggle.

"She's not a diva. I think the drivers feel that the car is very much together. But we just lacked the pace today here."

Technical director, James Alison echoed Wolff's sentiments and said that their hopes for a strong result this weekend weren't over before lights out.

"Although we made a small step forward relative to our performance yesterday, we were disappointed to learn this afternoon that it was not enough to compete on level terms with Ferrari.

"However, we know from Friday's long runs in practice that we have good tyre degradation, and there is every reason to expect a close race tomorrow, especially for Valtteri who will start from the clean side of the grid."