Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes is still trying to get to grips with its W13 Silver Arrow, admitting that heavy understeer and persistent porpoising are making the new car a difficult proposition.
On Friday, George Russell clocked in P8 in the morning session, but while Hamilton markedly improved on his teammate's performance in the afternoon, slotting himself among the top four, the seven-time world champion was anything but satisfied with Mercedes' current situation.
"Yeah, it's tough," he said. "I mean, you can see on the on-board, tank-slappers left, right and centre. You're bouncing and bumping and it's not quite happy at the moment. But we're trying to tame her."
It comes to mind that Mercedes' new upgrade package introduced in Bahrain, including its innovative extra-slim sidepods might be the culprit of the W13's wild behaviour.
But Hamilton suggested that Bahrain's specific conditions were the underlying cause of the car's troubles.
"It's the wind, it is the bouncing that we have," he said. "We still have that this week, and if anything it's worse.
"So we're just working through lots of different scenarios, trying to figure out how to hold on to the downforce and not have it bouncing as it was in the last test.
"I think everyone's probably in a similar boat. Some have managed to utilise or get around it in a better way.
"But it's difficult out there. It's bumpy, it's slippery. It's sand in the morning. In the morning, it's way too hot. And in the afternoon, it's just dusty."
Despite the struggles, Hamilton was by no means downbeat about Mercedes prospects just a week ahead of F1's season opening round in Bahrain.
"It's just hurdles that we're coming across with this new kind of car that everyone's facing in 2022," he said.
"I'm confident in the team here and back of the factory, that they will figure it out. But it's definitely not going to be a smooth run."
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