James Allison: “Focus a little more on performance tomorrow”

Mercedes has been proclaiming it since the start of these winter tests: performance is not the goal sought during the first days of driving. The world champion team rather seeks to accumulate kilometers as much as possible, which Lewis Hamilton et Valtteri Bottas manage to accomplish with remarkable reliability of the W10.

However, the situation could change slightly tomorrow for the last day of the first week. “Both drivers covered race distances without problems today and it was another very productive day for us, finding out how much the tires can hold, specifies James Allison, technical director of Mercedes.

This is all part of the foundation for the week ahead and it is good to have these race distances achieved so early in testing. Which will allow us to focus a little more on performance tomorrow, but most of that work will come the following week. »

Mercedes largely dominated the day in terms of accumulated mileage, with 847 km covered. Let it be said, the W10 already displays good consistency. It's up to Hamilton and Bottas to demonstrate, perhaps tomorrow, the potential performance of the latest from the Brackley and Brixworth workshops.