Mercedes: Bahrain F1 test gearbox issue “came out of nowhere”

Toto Wolff says the early gearbox issue Mercedes encountered during the first day of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain “came out of nowhere”.

Mercedes suffered an early setback on the opening day of running during Bahrain’s three-day pre-season test when it discovered a gearshift problem on Valtteri Bottas’ W12 during the first hour.

Bottas missed nearly three hours of the morning session due to a subsequent gearbox change and only re-emerged for the final 30 minutes, completing a total of just six laps.

Mercedes team principal Wolff said that the reigning world champion outfit was yet to fully understand the problem but is hopeful it can make up for the lost time.

“We weren’t very fast this morning because we only did one lap with the aero rig,” Wolff said.

“It wasn’t a good start because we had a gearbox issue that came out of nowhere that we haven’t yet been ready to identify and understand.

“If we are able to have a smoother ride from here onwards then I think we can recover.

“If we have more stumbling blocks, then obviously with three days there’s not a lot you can do.”

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton got his first chance to sample the W12 as he took over from Bottas in the afternoon. The Briton has so far only managed to add a further 16 laps to Mercedes’ tally after reporting niggles with his pedals and a loose wing mirror.

Wolff believes that the teams will get a “vague” picture of the true pecking order for 2021 after the three days of running are complete.

“We will see some kind of vague picture after the three days,” he explained.

“Bahrain is representative but these days are very gusty, the wind conditions change from one day to the other, and of course we don’t know the fuel loads.

“And there’s quite a difference in performance just missing it by 10 kilograms.

“So it’s a vague picture but on the first race weekend, in qualifying, we’ll know once the flag drops, the bullshit stops.”