2020 Barcelona Pre-Season Test 1, Day 2 - LAT Images

Mercedes technical director James Allison admitted to being satisfied with what Mercedes achieved during the winter with the W15 and the track’s data correlate with the simulator.

Allison said that the three days of testing in Bahrain were packed with work for the team. Every change that the engineers tried received a positive response from the car, which gives confidence to the British outfit ahead of the 2024 season.

“Very productive. We had a very full test program,” he told F1TV. “We wanted to work on a bunch of set-up changes that are not possible when the season starts. It’s been a good test from that point of view.

“We were working on the anti-dive front suspension as well, and it was useful to get that done, as it’s not possible to do it in between free practices throughout the year.

“We can change things and the car responds, and it responds pretty much like the sims. That gives us a lot of confidence to make changes at the factory, in the virtual world, and then bring them on track and expect them to work.”

Allison continued by saying that the W15 is a “much better-born car” compared to the W14, and the drivers’ feedback was positive. Not only that, he also admitted that Red Bull is still the team to beat, but he sees Mercedes fighting very close with Ferrari.

“We were in a world of pain this time last year, and we are certainly not the leading car right now. But we, at least, have an honest, well-behaved thing that can put in a decent long-run pace even though there is still work to do on single-lap performance. It’s definitely a much better-born car compared to last year.

“Red Bull is in front, but there are a few people in the chasing pack, Ferrari looks okay, we look good as well, and Fernando [Alonso] did a great run today [day 3]. Maybe we looked a bit better in the long-run, but a bit behind Ferrari in the single-lap simulation. So, a lot would depend on who has got a good week between now and then.”