F1 2019 pre-season test: Valtteri Bottas claims the Mercedes W10 is "on the edge of the razor"

Mercedes seemed to keep his performance cards close enough to his chest during the first week of 2019 pre-season tests in Barcelona. But while many in the F1 paddock believe the silver arrows are sacked, Valtteri Bottas has revealed that the current balance of the car makes driving difficult.

Bottas and teammate Lewis Hamilton avoided both of the most versatile C4 and C5 Pirelli tires in the first three days of testing, meaning the Mercedes name was unusually late in the race. They finally showed rhythm on day 4 after Bottas and Hamilton donned compound C4, falling below the 1m 18s – but despite that, Bottas confirmed that there was an imbalance in the car that The team was still trying to compose.

"It looks like, with respect to balance, it's a bit on the razor's edge right now," Bottas said.

"We improved a lot during the first three days … [and] it's nothing fundamentally wrong, I think. I think there is a lot of potential, but it's not quite there yet. But I feel a sense of excitement within the team to learn more about the car and to improve it – because at this point, it seems we are not very far ahead of everything the world. Looks like … Ferrari is in a better place. So, I think it motivates us, but we would obviously like to be ahead in Melbourne. "

Bottas revealed that Mercedes would bring improvements on the W10 until Melbourne, while still having four days of preseason testing ahead of them in Barcelona. Nevertheless, the Finn could not deny that Ferrari – which had made the headlines dominating the first two days in Barcelona while Mercedes played smoothly – seemed to be a powerful force for 2019, judging by their speed in Spain.

"They seem very strong, regardless of the type of fuel load or engine mode used," said Bottas. "Whatever you try to correct, because in any case they are fast – short races and long races. I think we're thinking at this point that they're going to be a bit early, but obviously it's impossible to do detailed calculations.

Hamilton: Ferrari looks very, very strong

"With the new rules, it will be an important race for development. We do not think anyone goes there, with [the type of car they have] During this test, for the first race, including ourselves, we have new pieces to come before the first race, but we can not really know that it will be enough. We must … try to make it better and faster. "