After three Grands Prix in this 2022 Formula 1 season, it is obvious that Mercedes is not at the level Ferrari and of Red Bull. The chasm that separates the Silver Arrows from the outposts is particularly visible in qualifying, where they were seven tenths behind in Bahrain, nine tenths in Jeddah and almost a second in Melbourne.
In the race, there was an encouraging sign in Australia: Hamilton was 38 seconds behind after 43 laps at Sakhir while Russell lost approximately one second per lap in Saudi Arabia. On the Albert Park track, the deficit was similar in the first two thirds of the race, but in the last 18 laps, George Russell only lost ten seconds on the leader Charles Leclerc.
Is this the consequence of a favorable layout in Australia or of improvements made by Mercedes? “I really think the truth lies between those two factors”analyzes James Vowles, team strategist, in his usual debriefing. “From one track to another, the performance changes between Ferrari, Red Bull, ourselves and McLaren for example. We see teams gaining and losing ground between all these different circuits, whether or not the characteristics of these circuits and the level of downforce suit a characteristic of their car. We have also made progress and try to do so in every race to advance our car and understand it.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in Australia
“Regarding our position in Melbourne, we have to face the reality: we were one second behind Ferrari in qualifying, and in the race Leclerc was in another dimension. He was not threatened by Verstappen at the restart, in a few Verstappen had already lost a few seconds, then in the second stint he wasn’t there and the Red Bull suffered this strong degradation that we saw on medium tyres.
Over the entire Grand Prix, Sakhir’s performance clearly remains the best: “TO At this stage, Bahrain remains our most competitive race of the season, in terms of the gap with the frontrunners. However, at each race we have an action plan of what we need to test, try and develop on this car, and I’m sure all our competitors have the same, but the key is this: we have to start closing that gap on the outposts.”
Mercedes will now strive to keep pace in the development race, as the aero handicap restricts the room for maneuver of the star team compared to its rivals.
“When you go into the European season, teams usually bring more performance upgrades; I suspect we’ll see development from our competitors, and we have to make sure we keep that pace, it’s really the minimum. work done at the moment is an analysis of what happened in Melbourne and an understanding of what we need to do in view of Imola and to make the car capable of winning the championship.concludes Vowles.
