Mercedes have kept the true potential of the W06 under wraps until day the tenth day of Formula 1 preseason testing, whereupon Nico Rosberg gave a glimpse of the true potential of the world champion team's new car - and the resultant lap time will have their rivals extremely worried.
Rosberg's best lap time of 1:22.792 - set on soft Pirelli tyres which the team were using for the first time on the day - was a whopping 1.2 seconds faster than their closest rivals on Friday.
Rosberg nevertheless remained cautious and summed up the sentiment after his day in the cockpit, ""I'm pleased with my two laps at the end - I nailed them pretty well and they were both identical, so a good ending to the day."
"We're confident that we have a good car and I'm starting to feel good in it. At the same time, of course, we're well aware that the others have been posting some quick times and we can take nothing for granted."
"Friday was a difficult day to start with but ended on a positive. During the early runs, even though the numbers looked like they were in the right place with the setup, it was actually very far away from where it needed to be, which was unusual and caught us off guard a little bit."
"We didn't really understand why, so a big part of the day has been chasing the setup and finding the right direction. It was really difficult to understand where to go. I had a lot of oversteer in the car, so the rear was just all over the place with no traction."
"But eventually, towards the end especially, it was feeling more and more decent. Then, putting the soft tyres on, that gives you the grip anyway so it doesn't really matter what the balance is - more or less it will be possible to do a good lap."
We have a great team who are doing a fantastic job and always want better and better, so we will keep our heads down and keep working. It's a work in progress...
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