Adam Cooper F1

The Bahrain GP will be something of a step into the unknown for Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg as Mercedes has yet to fully prove set-up changes made after Friday.

In an attempt to improve tyre usage and get on a par with Ferrari over long runs the team introduced the changes for Saturday, but the ultra hot FP3 session – followed by the one-lap sprints of qualifying – meant that the cars have not be run in that form in the cooler race conditions. Nevertheless the team is confident that it went in the right direction.

“We have corrected quite some things, looking at the deficit we had on Friday,” explained Toto Wolff after qualifying. “But then we didn’t really have the time to test it properly, because we didn’t have the conditions any more from [Friday] night. I think we made the right developments to get the tyre in the right window, but the ultimate proof we’re going to have tomorrow night.

“That’s a bit of a risk. But I think what we did was not any guessing, it was an engineering and scientific approach, how can you get the tyre and the set-up in the best possible place. And I think what has been done was right, but again, tomorrow night we’re going to see.”

Elaborating on the challenge all teams face he said: “There is a surface issue, surface temperature, and there is a bulk temperature. And the two of them can go into opposite directions. This is what we had [on Friday], and again we had differences between the soft tyre and the hard tyre. It is not just one formula you need to get right, but on both of them.”

Regarding how the race might unfold Wolff said: “I expect the Ferraris to be strong, and if the Ferraris are strong and we’re going to see four cars close to each other at the beginning that could well mean that you need to have various strategies in place to react or to be proactive or reactive. It depends where each of the cars is, and how the race pans out.”

The F1 engine manufacturers have agreed than any move towards 1000bhp engines for 2017 has to involve using the current V6 as a starting point.

None of them wants to go in the V8 direction that has been suggested by Bernie Ecclestone, and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says that the V6 plan now has priority.

“The discussion about a 1000bhp engine has been around quite a while,” he said. “And I appreciate very well that it needs to be a spectacular formula, and if that’s the way forward then we should continue to work on it. But there are various groups coming together in terms of how the 2017 rules can look like in terms of power unit, and in terms of the chassis side. Yesterday there was a very valuable meeting, Charlie [Whiting] was there, Bernie was there, and concepts have been put in place to make it a spectacular new formula in 2017.

“All engine manufacturers are pretty clear that the current engine architecture with a hybrid component needs to stay in place. This is the direction we’ve headed to, and this is at least at the moment the current status between Ferrari, Renault, Honda and Mercedes.”

Wolff says that the current engines will in any case gain power as they are developed, and that a change to the fuel flow rules would be the easiest way to provide an extra boost.

“I think by 2017 those engines, between all manufacturers, are going to have north of 900bhp. Then it’s a question of how do you want to market that? Does it make a big difference between having 950bhp or 1000? I think there are pretty easy tools to increase the horsepower, and this is increasing fuel flow. If you want to increase the fuel flow by 10kgs an hour or 20kgs or whatever it is, then you are going to have more than 1000bhp.

“But you need to redesign crucial components of the engine, you need to make them more reliable, and that again involves a lot of development costs. We all understand that we want to have a spectacular formula, not only on the chassis side but also on the power unit side, and this is what’s being discussed at the moment – how to achieve it.

“There’s a governance in place and for 2017 you need a simple majority in the F1 Commission to change the rules, and this is the reality. So if you’re being a hardliner and you’re blocking everything, you’re going to be run over. So at least let’s stay on the table and discuss in a sensible way what we can do and what is for the benefit of the sport and the good of the sport, and this is what we’re trying to do.”

Nico Rosberg says the interests of Mercedes will continue to have priority as Ferrari’s pace has an impact on his battle with Lewis Hamilton.

In China Rosberg asked for Lewis to speed up as he was at risk of being jumped by Sebastian Vettel in the pits, and afterwards he was clearly not happy with the way things played out, as he felt the team’s one-two had been under threat.

“It’s always the same and it will not change,” he said. “It’s something that we have agreed together, it’s an agreement we have, that when the team’s one-two is at risk to another team then some measures will be used to ensure that, and that might mean the disadvantage of one or other driver or whatever. We want to finish one-two and get the most possible points, so the more annoying a Ferrari like Sebastian becomes in China, the more those measures are going to be used. Just like in China, where Lewis was told to speed up.”

Asked when a driver would put his interests above those of the team he said: “It’s impossible to say the situation. We could say Abu Dhabi. The team said, ‘Nico stop, drive the car into the garage,’ and I asked ‘Can I please finish the race?’ That could be putting my own thing in front of the team if you want to see it that way.

“So it really depends, and it’s not possible to go into individual scenarios, but of course we have to respect what the team wants, because you’re driving for the team. It’s always such a fine line, but in the end yes, I have to respect the team.”

Rosberg was asked if he had changed his opinion about Lewis running too slowly in China: “It’s not an opinion, I was stating facts. I never stated an opinion. So my facts are still the same. Facts are facts, it’s not opinions.”

He said he would still speak out after the race, given the same situation.

“I would do it again because I felt the need to state the facts, because there was a need to discuss things after that race. Everybody saw that need, not only me. That’s it. Now for me, except for standing in this room and discussing it with you, it’s a long time since I last discussed it. It’s in the past and I’m moving on. The best answer I can give is on the race track, and I’m going to try to use that opportunity.”