Sakhir – At the end of the three Formula 1 test days in Bahrain, Mercedes got back on track and set the fastest laps of the week. On Friday afternoon, Kimi Antonelli achieved the fastest time with the completely new cars in 1:33.669 minutes, which put him just ahead of his teammate George Russell – and only Mercedes managed to break the 1:34.00 minute mark in Bahrain. Although the lap times should be viewed with caution this far before the season opener in Australia on March 8th, Mercedes lived up to its status as favorites at the end of the week. On Thursday, technical problems slowed the team down significantly.
