At the beginning of the season, Mercedes did everything they could to compete for the world title again, but are performing disappointingly so far this race year. This development is a big surprise for
Jenson Button, as he explains in conversation with
Gentleman's Journal.
Whereas
Lewis Hamilton has invariably been competing for winning the world championship in recent seasons, at the
Imola Grand Prix he even had to settle for a thirteenth finishing position. The British driver was disappointed with his car afterwards and even saw team boss Toto Wolff openly apologize to him. The performance of Mercedes surprised Button.
"I’m massively surprised," stated the former
Formula 1 driver, who does have a high opinion of
Ferrari.
"They’ve done a great job. And I don’t think I see it changing anytime soon… Ferrari still has more time in the wind tunnel than Mercedes, as does Red Bull. So it’s going to be tricky for Mercedes to come back." Tension in the world championship
Charles Leclerc is at the top of the world championship for now, but with a gap of 27 points,
Max Verstappen is slowly creeping closer. In just over a week, the next Grand Prix is on the program. Then the
Formula 1 teams travel to Miami.