F1 News
Wolff on embarrassing form Mercedes: 'There are problems everywhere'
- GPblog.com
A second place in the championship after two races suggests that Mercedes has started the season well, but Red Bull Racing's double retirement in Bahrain creates a distorted picture. Indeed, Mercedes has been out of the race so far this season.
Lesson in humility for Mercedes
In Bahrain, Lewis Hamilton was still on the podium after the retirement of both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, but in Saudi Arabia, the seven-time world champion came no further than tenth. George Russell finished fourth and fifth in the first two Grands Prix. Considering Mercedes has been stringing together wins and titles in recent years, a very disappointing start.
Team boss Toto Wolff could hardly hide his disappointment after the second race of the season. In front of the cameras of Sky Sports, he calls it painful that Mercedes so far cannot get involved in the fight at the front. "It's a lesson in humility that will make us stronger, even if it's not pleasant at the moment."
Problems everywhere
So the results are disappointing for Mercedes so far, but also on pure speed the team falls short of Ferrari and Red Bull. According to Wolff, the car is struggling with many problems. "We don't have the car in the set-up we would like. I really hope that the gap can be much smaller than what we have seen, but there are problems everywhere."