17 April, 2021
Valtteri Bottas has said that Mercedes still do not think they have the fastest car heading into the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, despite the Finn leading a one-two for the team in both practice sessions on Friday.
Bottas led both FP1 and FP2 from teammate Lewis Hamilton, while Max Verstappen saw issues wreck his Friday afternoon running.
The Dutchman was close behind the two Mercedes cars in FP1, while the reigning champions believe that Red Bull had the edge on pace at last month’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
Although they might not be fully satisfied with their relative performance level, Mercedes certainly seem more happy with their car than they have for much of the season so far and Bottas said that he was “much happier with the balance of the car” following the end of Friday running.