Cars are very close and more ringing bells from Mercedes with bottas.
It's great that the cars are close. I hope this carries over throughout the season and we see some real competition across the grid.
Bottas was complaining a bit, and Red Bull do look to have the best car (at least in Bahrain)... but I think it's clear that Mercedes have improved their car since the testing, and will be right up there at the top of grid. Difficult to determine at the moment how representative current performance is compared to the cooler tracks of Europe, though.
I think Mercedes may be right that the subtle rule changes for this season have impacted their low-rake design more than Red Bull's high-rake... in which case Mercedes could well be on the back foot all season, still up near the front of the grid, yes, but perhaps behind Max.
@Cnut237 these car changes are bound to create some buzz once the season starts, because it may finally allow other teams to attack Mercedes for the top spot. However I wouldn’t be surprised that despite these changes Mercedes yet manages to win all the races, and I’m pretty sure that many here will agree with my views.
I’m not that hopeful tho. But we’ll see. 
