Toto Wolff would be fairly pleased with how things transpired on Day 1 of testing in Barcelona.
While Ferrari were clearly the fastest car out there, Mercedes are known to not show their cards in testing and could be holding back a lot.
With car performance and pace being the primary concern for Wolff, Brexit is going to add to his and his team’s headaches this season.
The Mercedes boss has highlighted how a no-deal Brexit could cause massive logistical issues for Mercedes(and all Britain based teams).
“A no-deal Brexit would have a major impact on our operations going to races and developing cars,” Wolff said as quoted by BBC Sport.
Mercedes have worked out a few contingency plans, but Wolff concedes that logistical issues are still going to hamper the team’s functioning.
“We have certain contingencies in place, like having more stock and thinking about how we would get parts and people in and out of the country,” Wolff said.
“But it would be a disruption and it would cause all the UK teams a lot of headache, while Ferrari in Italy and Sauber (Alfa Romeo) in Switzerland would have a massive advantage over every UK-based team.” he added.
Mercedes are based out of Brackley in Northamptonshire, with their F1 engine base located in Brixworth.
Red Bull’s Christian Horner too has expressed concern over the ‘no-deal Brexit’, something that is going to affect the Milton Keynes based team too.
“Brexit consumes the news,” Horner said.
“As a team we do our due diligence, but whether there is a no-deal, any deal, we will have to deal with it, and life ultimately will go on.
“It is important we get to a conclusion sooner rather than later to get rid of all the uncertainty because it is unsettling for so many aspects.
“Brexit is something that really needs to be addressed for the clarity for everybody. It is very difficult to make plans without clarity.” he added.
According to the current deal, UK will leave the EU on the 29th of March.
