Mercedes technical director James Allison discussed his team's position after tests and ahead of the first race of the 2024 season - the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The pre-season testing at Bahrain International Circuit lasted for three days. All teams had very intense testing schedules and mainly focused on themselves and their procedures.
However, now that everything is over, it is time to look at the data collected and start guessing where everyone ranks in terms of qualifying and race pace.
Though fans would like a close battle for the title, it was already hinted by a couple of drivers they expect Red Bull to start the season with a comfortable margin ahead of the pack yet again.
James Allison confirmed this in his interview with the media at the end of the pre-season testing. Concerning the pecking order, he expects Red Bull at the front, but then it gets a bit tricky.
"Red Bull are in front. If you look at their race run, it's quite fierce. Behind, there are several strong teams in the chasing back – Ferrari seems OK, we [Mercedes] seem OK."
So, the general notion is that Red Bull is ahead. Then Allison saw Ferrari with Mercedes, and then he chose Aston Martin. Interestingly, he left out McLaren - who admitted they didn't have the best testing.
"Alonso just did a pretty fair run today. That would be my guess of the three chasers."
Mercedes and Ferrari enjoyed a very close battle for second place in the Championship until the final lap of last season's final race in Abu Dhabi.
Could we see a similar fight this year? Concerning which team is going to have the upper hand, Allison suggested it is going to be Mercedes in the long runs. He added:
"In precisely what order, I'm not sure. I think we looked slightly better on the long runs but a little behind Ferrari on the single-lap stuff. I think a lot will depend on who has a good week between now and then."
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