Gasly saw Mercedes struggling: 'I could clearly see Lewis was struggling'

It is a familiar game of Mercedes: before the start of the new Formula 1 season, the team likes to paint itself as the underdog. However, according to Pierre Gasly it is not all mental games, but the German racing stable actually looked less strong than in the past.

During testing in Bahrain, Gasly went wheel-to-wheel with Lewis Hamilton. In those moments, he noticed that Mercedes' W13 was clearly not looking as good as its predecessors.

"I could see that Lewis was struggling and I think they still have some work to do to be able to fight at the top," says the AlphaTauri driver according to Crash.net. "The conclusion is that Mercedes is probably not looking as good as they have in the past."

However, he stresses that it is all part of testing and exploring how the teams can get the best out of the cars. Still, the 26-year-old Frenchman says he is surprised that he was able to fight with Hamilton. Overtaking therefore seems easier according to Gasly, who thinks racing will be "very fun" this year .