Why Mercedes' F1 test struggles are different this time

After all, the Brackley-based squad has had many low-key winters in the past only to then turn up at the first race and blitz the opposition.

Even last year, when Mercedes appeared to be fully on the backfoot as it couldn’t get on top of its car in the test, it still managed to overhaul Red Bull to win the season opener.

But despite the scepticism about Mercedes hiding its real pace, and the obvious fear it could find something in its factory this week to unlock what it needs, the team does appear to be going in to the season behind.

The feeling is what prompted Lewis Hamilton to declare that, with the car as it is at the moment, he will not be in a position to win races.

Primarily, whereas last year Mercedes just could not find the right balance with the W12 in the test, this time around the drivers and team are struggling a lot with extracting consistent pace.

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The car is suffering from much worse porpoising than key rivals Red Bull and Ferrari, and Mercedes has not yet found a way to dial the problem out.

This is not just a problem at the end of straights, because the car is also suffering the phenomenon of the floor touching the ground in some corners too when on the limit – which doesn’t make things particularly good in terms of delivering consistent downforce.

George Russell, Mercedes W13

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

As George Russell said: “There's a lot of potential in the W13 and I believe our guys are going to get to the bottom of it, we just need to find a way to unlock our performance.

“The bouncing is affecting our ability to put the car in the right window and the team are working incredibly hard to find solutions for