Lewis Hamilton has voiced concerns about Mercedes being on the wrong track with their new car at the start of the 2023 season.
The seven-time world champion was eighth in Friday practice, 0.636 seconds slower than the pace-setting Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.
Hamilton said: “We found out we are a long way off. We kind of knew that a little bit in the test but it is a big gap.
Hamilton implied that he felt Mercedes had taken the wrong design direction with their car for this season.
Mercedes have chosen this year to stick with their so-called ‘zero-sidepod’ design philosophy, with very narrow bodywork beside the driver.
This makes them alone on the grid – most teams have chosen to follow Red Bull’s very different approach to engineering the airflow around the car between the wheels, which features larger sidepods with a pronounced undercut to channel the air to the rear of the car.
Aston Martin have switched to a Red Bull-style approach this season and appear to have made a leap in competitiveness to be close to the front of the field.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin’s veteran driver Fernando Alonso has rejected the idea that he could start the Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position despite setting the pace in Friday practice.
The Aston Martin driver was 0.169 seconds quicker than world champion Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, whose team-mate Sergio Perez was third fastest.
The two-time champion also ruled out fighting for the world title in 2023.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth fastest and Lewis Hamilton the quickest Mercedes in eighth, 0.636secs off the pace.
Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas, Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine filled the gaps ahead of Hamilton.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was ninth fastest ahead of the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu. Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell was down in 13th and the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz 14th after making an error on his fastest lap.