Toto Wolff saw Mercedes beaten by Red Bull Racing in qualifying ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Austrian team boss is disappointed about the defeat, but at the same time, he is optimistic. Nothing is lost yet.
Wolff told the German Sky "It's hard to swallow, although we knew Red Bull would be strong." The top man goes on to say at Marca that it is difficult for Mercedes to deal with the hot temperatures. "The conditions are not in our favour. It's going to be a very tough, dog-eat-dog fight," Wolff said.
Work to do for Mercedes
According to Wolff, the W12 loses time in the fast corners compared to Red Bull's 2021 car. Mercedes aren't quite satisfied on the engine front either. "It's not just one area where you fall behind," he said.
Mercedes struggled to get the tyres in the right 'sweat spot'. Despite this, the differences were minimal. "When you put the fastest laps and even the long runs side by side from both teams, it's all so close that any amount of fuel you bring can make a big change. We don't really know," said Wolff, who doesn't know whether they are ahead or behind Red Bull.
Well, it is really that the Mercedes this year isn't as good as the RB or is it just the fact that have not been able to produce a car this year that is not as 'super dominating' over other teams like in the past 7 years?
Perhaps their cars are now just closer in performance to the Red Bull and then it is the drivers actual talents and speed which is now showing through and we are thus seeing the results on the timing board?
The new regulations did not apply to RB. Mercedes did much better than they expected. We will have a battle this year. Lewis wanted a battle. If he wins in a lesser car that will close a lot of mouths now won't it!
They have changed the regs to slow Mercedes down. And this has played into the hands of redbull etc this will maybe stop horner and marko from whinging all season long
Is Wolf really thinking it's normal to win every season without a fight?
