Wolff says 'no bouncing' so far with Mercedes W14

Toto Wolff says Mercedes enjoyed a solid opening session on Thursday in Bahrain, with "no bouncing" impacting the performance of the team's new W14.

George Russell racked up 69 trouble-free laps in the morning segment of the day, the Briton clocking in with the fifth fastest lap and with no specific complaints to formulate.

"He was generally happy with the car," said Wolff. "It seems to be balanced in the right way.

"There’s no bouncing, which is good news, apart from that big bump at the end of the straight.

"We’re gathering a lot of data because that was important to correlate obviously after last year, and trying different things. So a productive first morning."

Mercedes was no doubt relieved to be spared the aggravation and troubles it suffered a year ago when it put its 2022 silver arrows 'bouncing bronco' on the track.

"I think we have a solid base now to work from and try to optimise the car, which we haven’t done yet," added Wolff.

"It’s really just finding out are there any areas that could be a real performance hindrance like last year with the bouncing. We’ve just got to work through the programme."

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Asked for their early feedback on their car's behaviour in the morning session, Red Bull's Christian Horner and Ferrari's Fred Vasseur both said that their respective drivers – Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz – had reported enduring a bumpy ride, but for track-related reasons.

"It’s not at all as it was one year ago with the car bouncing like a kangaroo," commented Vasseur.

"Today we have on some part of the track before turn one, turn 12, it’s a bit more bumpy than it was before, but it’s a different issue."

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