Toto Wolff says Mercedes struggled with an 'out of balance' car on Friday morning in Bahrain, a state of affairs due in part to the track's high temperatures.
Mercedes enjoyed a solid opening day of running at Sakhir on Thursday, and there were no complaints this morning from the Brackley squad on the reliability of its W14 black arrow.
However, Lewis Hamilton - who set the eighth fastest lap of the morning session - frequently looked uncomfortable at the wheel of Mercedes' black arrow, as the car appeared to search for its way around the corners.
Wolff denied however that the seven-time world champion was over-driving his W14, pointing the finger instead towards Bahrain's 42°C track temperatures.
"The car is out of balance this morning, and you can see that, when driving, it's leaving black marks on acceleration," commented Wolff to F1TV.
"It's hot, and we just didn't find the right setup for these conditions, which I guess is part of the learning with a new car.
"It's not because the driver is over-driving the tyres or pushing, it's the car that doesn't give you enough grip from the rear. This is something we need to sort out over the course of today."
George Russell will pick up the workload for Mercedes this afternoon. Cooler conditions in the latter part of the day are likely to improve the performance level of the German outfit's W14.
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