Ferrari has ‘tiny, tiny edge’ on Mercedes in Bahrain

Mercedes Formula 1 chief Toto Wolff believes Ferrari has a “tiny, tiny edge” over its rivals following Friday’s practice running for the Bahrain Grand Prix, flipping the formbook from Australia two weeks ago.

Having finished almost a minute behind Mercedes race winner Valtteri Bottas in Australia, Ferrari swept to a one-two finish in both FP1 and FP2 in Bahrain on Friday, appearing to bounce back after its struggles at the season opener.

Mercedes finished six-tenths of a second back from the Ferraris in second practice, with team boss Wolff saying after the session that the tables had turned since Australia.

“We’re quite happy. As you can see the normal straight line power from the Ferrari on the straight, it’s where they are making all the gains,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.

“It’s definitely a different Ferrari to what we saw in Melbourne. I don’t know how they’re operating it, but in terms of pure pace, [it’s] definitely more Barcelona than Melbourne.

“It looks like Ferrari maybe has a tiny, tiny edge on us at the moment, but then qualifying can be different.

“We’re going to squeeze everything we have like a lemon, and be there hopefully in qualifying.”

Five-time world champion Hamilton struggled to match the Ferraris for pace throughout Friday’s running in Bahrain, but Wolff stressed it was unwise to write the Briton off.

“I think it’s very dangerous to underestimate Lewis Hamilton. Once the lap time counts, he’s generally always there,” Wolff said.

“Valtteri has started off where he left it in Melbourne, very strong and very good long run also.”