Mercedes call for Bahrain testing return for 2022

Valtteri Bottas in het donker tijdens de wintertestdagen in Bahrein — Photo: © LAT Images

Mercedes

Mercedes call for Bahrain testing return for 2022

Mercedes has outlined advantages over Barcelona

Ian Parkes

Monday 22 March 2021 09:30

Mercedes has advocated a return to Bahrain for winter testing ahead of the 2022 Formula 1 season.

F1 opted to switch to the warmer climes of the Bahrain International Circuit for its most recent three-day test rather than head to Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya, as has normally been the case in the past.

Apart from a sandstorm on day one and strong winds in general, the running was more representative of conditions generally experienced by the teams.

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For next season, heavily revised new aerodynamic rules come into force and some teams may prefer the proximity of Barcelona for logistical reasons should different parts be required, despite the colder, occasionally wet conditions that prevail.

Mercedes, however, has already made clear it would prefer Bahrain over Barcelona.

Assessing the differences in a Mercedes Youtube video, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said: "Bahrain is hard on the rear tyres, so it is good for working on degradation.

"Barcelona in winter really knocks out the front left, in those cooler conditions it's very tough on the front left, so you don't have that to contend with.

"I think one of the other relevant points is Bahrain is the first race, so we are testing at the circuit that we are going to be racing on 10 days later, whereas Barcelona, well that actually comes a few months later.

"It’s useful preparation. It is nice not having to worry about whether it will rain or not, which tends to cause a bit of havoc with your plans.

"It is good to go there, a bit windy, but I'd quite like to go back again next year for testing.”

Asked whether it made a difference being in Bahrain compared to Barcelona, motorsport strategy director James Vowles remarked: "Short answer: Yes.

"Barcelona generally in winter is quite cold in the mornings. We've gone there before and had below zero and the track sometimes gets above 20 degrees during the day, but these are low numbers compared to how we are normally racing.

"The layout is all fundamentally different but in Bahrain obviously you get incredibly warm conditions, probably on the warmer side of what you would see in the season, and you transition into night as well.

"From a strategic perspective, the degradation is quite a bit higher in Bahrain and that just means that when you try to compare two cars in different situations, or even with just a lap of tyre difference between them, there is quite an offset in performance.

"Bahrain also has a lot more straight content, so a little bit more power difference in terms of speed and lap time if teams are going up and down on the modes.

"It makes it a little bit more difficult I think to track it down in Bahrain."