Mercedes Director Pinpoints Areas Of Improvement For W14 - "Not Where We Need It"

Andrew Shovlin speaks candidly about the W14.

During an interview with Sky Sports F1, Andrew Shovlin, trackside engineering director at Mercedes, reflected on the performance of the W14 during the initial free practice session in Bahrain. Shovlin had expected the car to exhibit improved responsiveness to the new tyres.

As the session progressed, it became apparent that the Mercedes was not performing as well as the two Red Bull cars. Shovlin acknowledged this observation.

Shovlin had hoped that the team's off-season development would yield better results, but he admitted that they still had work to do to match their rivals' pace.

Shovlin also noted that the first practice session is just the beginning of a long weekend, and there would be ample opportunity to analyse the data and make adjustments before the race.

Despite the initial setbacks, Shovlin remained optimistic about Mercedes' chances and was confident that they could improve their performance in subsequent practice sessions. He explained:

"We knew we would be a bit behind Red Bull. 

"First run was kind of expected, second run on the new tyres we didn't find a lot so we need to dig into that now. I thought we would've gained a bit there."

Speaking about the new rear wing the team have brought in for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Shovlin continued:

"It [the new rear wing] looks fine aerodynamically. We would've liked to have had that [rear wing] last week but it was all in production. They did a good job of getting them here for this race and we'll stay with that for this weekend."

Shovlin went on to explain some of the changes they made to the W14. 

"The big thing is we've got rid of the bouncing so we are able to run the car where we want to. It's much smoother than last year.

"We are still working on the balance, it's not where we need it. There's more to do. Sidepods are a similar theme.

"If you go and copy someone else, you go backwards before you go forwards. In terms of the concept, we will look at where we are in the early races. We have evolutions in terms of sidepod design coming. There's a lot we need to evaluate anyway."