Mercedes continued its poor start to the 2022 season in Saudi Arabia and team boss Toto Wolff is not a happy man.
After having enjoyed tremendous success over the past eight years, Mercedes are currently in unchartered territory. The Silver Arrows have struggled to keep up with their rivals in the opening two races of the season and it doesn’t seem like things are going to get better for the British manufacturer.
Mercedes are still 2nd in the Constructors’ championship but have looked nowhere close to fighting for honors at the top. The team was fortunate to get the majority of their points in Bahrain after the two Red Bulls in front of them failed to finish the race due to engine issues.
However, in Saudi Arabia, Mercedes had a nightmare outing, especially with Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time champion failed to get past Q1 in qualifying for the first time in four years. He then finished the race on Sunday in 10th place.
George Russell did grab P5 in the race but later admitted that it was the best he could do with his car. The performances so far are not something that F1 fans expected from the eight-time consecutive Constructors’ champions.
Toto Wolff highlights ‘unacceptable’ Mercedes outings
While speaking to reporters after the Saudi Arabian GP, Wolff claimed that his team is currently missing out on competing for the wins as Red Bull and Mercedes seem to have the pace advantage over Mercedes.
Wolff explained, “We were right in the middle of those fun games in the front, and talking as an F1 stakeholder and benefiting from a great show, that is really spectacular to look at. But on the other side, it is extremely painful to be not part of those fun games, and by quite a chunk of lap time deficit.“
The Austrian added that his team are receiving an exercise in humility but concluded by saying that Mercedes will learn from this and bounce back stronger, “We’re not going to rest until we are back in the mix. But you’re absolutely right: it’s no fun at all. [It’s] an exercise in humility, and it’s going to make us stronger in the end, even though it’s not funny right now.This is now acceptable.”
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