Bottas confident 'DAS' gives Mercedes the edge

Valtteri Bottas says the Mercedes Formula 1 team are still learning about their new 'Dual-Axis Steering' system, but believes the innovation will give team the advantage in 2020.

Bottas confirmed that he had first heard of 'DAS' a year ago but that Thursday was the first time the team have run with the system.

“What we’ve learnt from running with that now is, yes, we think we are happy to have it in the car and we wouldn’t run anything like this if we didn’t think there would be a performance gain," said Bottas.

“We’re still learning about it, in which kinds of sessions, areas, conditions the gains are actually going to be – if it’s going to be in qualifying, in the race, out laps or safety cars or different kinds of things.

“We’re just looking at all of the options so we can maximise it.”

Bottas was asked about the feel of the system, the steering wheel able to move in and out at the push of a button, with several drivers suggesting it would feel unnatural.

“To be honest, it doesn’t feel that strange," continued Bottas. "The system just works in a very good way. It’s pretty solid and never does anything funny and you only move the wheel if you want to. There’s no issue so far with it. It’s actually pretty easy to use.

“Obviously, very nice to be on the team running that kind of system. It tells something about the great minds our team has. I’m sure it’s not an easy thing to start making it, designing it and then actually making it work as it is now, and we’re still learning about the system and the potential.

“I think, in some kinds of circumstances, it can be pretty good, but that will be shown later on in the year in different conditions, on different track how it can help us.”

The Finn topped the morning session of the final day of the first pre-season test in Spain, setting a 1:15.732 on the softest compound C5 tyres.

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