Hamilton and Bottas don't know whether DAS will be used in Melbourne

Mercedes team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas admit they are unsure whether the new DAS (Dual Axis Steering) system will be used at the upcoming Australian Grand Prix or beyond.

At testing in Barcelona, the Silver Arrows revealed the innovation, with some teams questioning its potential legality and others praising the evolution of the carr from last year.

Whether it is against the rules or not, Hamilton and Bottas might not even use it.

"At the moment I don't really use it a lot," the six-time world champion admitted.

"Sometimes you practice with it, sometimes you practice without it. I don't know how much we will be using it."

Hamilton admits Mercedes struggling with power-reliability balanceRead more

Bottas, meanwhile, seemed slightly warmer to the idea, as when he was asked whether it will be used, he replied: “no reason why not to”.

He goes on to say that it would only be implemented if the team decides that it will present an advantage.

"Definitely run by run we were learning more about it," he explained.

"With the test, the engineers have more time to learn from the data and more of the guidelines for us as the drivers, how to best use it.

"What kind of situations it can bring the advantage, how big an advantage it will give us, and at which tracks is a bit of a question mark.

"We're happy to have it on the car, and now it all goes pretty smoothly and starts to feel like everything goes pretty automatically without too much thinking about it, and we're using it what we think is the best."

Related

Mercedes

Wolff issues DAMNING Mercedes verdict for 2025 F1 season

• Yesterday 10:57

Mercedes

Mercedes F1 SHUTDOWN after shock announcement

• January 20, 2025 20:57