Mercedes confident in Bahrain

Nico Rosberg set the best time in the first two practice sessions, improving his teammate's pole position by 1" Lewis Hamilton carried out in 2015. The Mercedes were ahead of the rest of the peloton by more than a second during the day and evening where conditions were unusually similar due to the weather.

“It’s an encouraging first day for the team. We were very fast on a flying lap and on the long stints. I really like this layout », commented the winner of the Australian Grand Prix.

“The car performs very well here. We had no surprises during testing, which is always a good sign. Understanding tires is key this weekend”, confirmed Lewis Hamilton.

“We didn't have high temperatures as is usually the case here during the first session and we were able to do many very useful stints, whether on soft or super soft tires, full tank or not. Tire degradation over long stints should offer interesting race strategies”, recalled Paddy Lowe, Mercedes technical director F1.