Final update from F1 testing Day 1 (Update)

Bottas

UPDATE The final test times are in for Day 1 and the two Mercedes drivers end the day 1-2.

Valtteri Bottas
I'm very impressed that we could start at 9am, going straight out and doing some longer runs without any issues and really execute our plan for the morning perfectly. We could get everything done which is just impressive considering how much work goes into our cars. In the morning when it was still relatively cold, we focused mostly on aero tests with rakes on the car. Later on we did some work on set-up changes – bigger changes than we would normally do on a race weekend when it's more about fine-tuning. In testing you have the chance to do that and see how the car reacts to those big changes. I had a very good feeling, the car feels good and fast, but I'm sure we can make it a lot faster. It's been a really nice starting point, but it's early days, so it doesn't mean a whole lot.

Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton
It's been a good day and a really good start for all of us, considering we had a long break. So to come back and clock in over 170 laps just shows how hard everyone has been working over the winter. We will just take it one step at a time, getting good feedback from the car. We have a lot of data to download and analyze and we've got to keep pushing on. A huge thank you to everyone back in Brackley and Brixworth for the incredible effort that's gone in over the winter to make sure we come here and have a car that's reliable to start with so we can get this mileage done. I hope everyone back at the factory is happy with how the day went and we're just going to keep churning out as many miles as possible.

James Allison
That was a very positive start to our winter testing campaign, with both drivers able to get a very decent amount of work done through the day. We were able to tick several of the procedural items off our list that we need to get done before Melbourne and also run through some of the main set-up items on suspension settings today. We're happy that alongside the good reliability we've shown today, both drivers have reported the car to have sweet handling characteristics and are looking forward to leaning on it a bit harder over the next several days of testing.

Bottas says there are still areas for Mercedes to work on to totally destroy their rivals

02/19/20 The first day of 2020 F1 testing is almost in the books and so far the superior Mercedes F1 team is head and shoulders above the rest. However, it is only Day 1 and no one is showing their true hand just yet.

Speaking after his first experience of driving Mercedes’ latest F1 car in the morning, Valtteri Bottas revealed there are still areas for the German manufacturer to work on, despite a trouble-free day so far.

“It was a good morning, we’ve done everything we planned," Bottas explained.

“There were no issues and the car feels good. Obviously it can still be better but a really nice starting point."

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