Lewis Hamilton and George Russell surprised the field in Practice by topping timing sheets.
Out of all the front-running teams, Mercedes were the most reserved during pre-season. The Silver Arrows kept their cards close to their chest, prioritising understanding of the car over outright pace.
However, the second practice session of 2024 saw Mercedes begin to flex their muscles.
The German constructor, like the rest of the field, completed several qualifying simulations on the soft tyres.
Although fuel loads and engine modes are unknown, this session is undoubtedly the most representative of the season so far.
In this 1 hour period, Mercedes set a series of impressive times. Lewis Hamilton found consistent improvement on the softs, whilst teammate George Russell eventually put himself within a few tenths of the 7-time Champion.
Both drivers were ahead of their typical rivals, including Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin.
Even before today’s running, it was relatively well-established that Mercedes were faster than testing indicated.
Not only was this the perspective within the paddock, but even technical director James Allison alluded to the W15 having more lap time in its pocket.
Of course, it is important to mention a series of disclaimers before getting carried away.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull are still the undeniable favourites this weekend. The Dutchman’s long-run pace at the end of the session was confirmation of the RB20’s likely superiority.
With that said, it is important to contextualise the journey Toto Wolff’s team has taken in the last year.
Catching up to the fastest car is difficult in the best of times, let alone whilst embarking on a fresh concept.
If Mercedes can compete for a podium and give Red Bull something to think about in Bahrain, that would be a commendable effort.
As it stands, though, it is difficult to assess how much performance the top 5 teams have kept in reserve.
Nobody showed their absolute pace in FP2, so tomorrow’s qualifying will give us the first concrete indications where the teams lie.
