For Wolff, Mercedes could have won in Qatar... if the Grand Prix had been held on Saturday

En Formula 1, the truth of today is not necessarily that of tomorrow… and that, Mercedes has known this only too well for several years. In Qatar as in Las Vegas, the Silver Arrows seemed well on their way to achieving a new success, or at least a podium. Alas, on Sunday evening, it was empty-handed that the German team left Losail, having missed a great chance of victory.

Starting from pole position, after benefiting from the one-place grid penalty imposed on Max Verstappen, George Russell quickly lost his starting position advantage, right from the first corner, to his Dutch rival and to Lando Norris. The beginning of the struggles: unable to keep up with the unleashed pace of the leading duo, the Briton tried an undercut strategy… without success. In difficulty with his hard tires, stuck behind Fernando Alonso For several laps, George Russell lost all hope of victory – and even of a podium – when the Safety Car appeared halfway through the race to allow the stewards to clear debris from the start-finish straight.

Mercedes W15 suddenly suffers from understeer

Finally 4th at the finish, the English rider missed out on a second consecutive victory which seemed possible the day before, during the Sprint where he finished 3rd behind the two McLaren. “It wasn’t a good day at work, recognizes Toto Wolff, Mercedes Team Principal. We lost all the balance of the car between [Saturday] and [Sunday], we had terrible understeer with both cars and we had no pace anymore, which was weird to understand. The race was bad, I think the car was very difficult to drive for both drivers. It was not turning: the understeer was unbearable and they both suffered from it.

“I think if the race had gone [on Saturday] it was winnable, but in terms of pure pace I think we would have been behind Lando [Norris] and behind Max [Verstappen], so we would have had a solid podium, but obviously too many things went wrong, underlines the German leader. Our race started to deteriorate after about fifteen laps, when we realized that the car was not balancing, that understeer was setting in and that we were starting to lose ground compared to the drivers in front of us and Piastres who was following us. We thought that switching to hard tires and adjusting the front wing would put us in a more comfortable situation, which was not the case at all."

Wolff understands Hamilton's desolation

On Sunday, only one Mercedes really fought at the front, since that of Lewis Hamilton was never in the running at the Qatar Grand Prix. The seven-time British world champion did everything wrong at Losail: a false start, a puncture, speeding in the pits, several mishaps that relegated him to the back of the pack. Frustrated by his ordeal, Lewis Hamilton even considered voluntarily retiring, before resolving to finish the race in 12th place.

"We had reached a point where it almost didn't make sense to continue. But if you give up, you take [the penalty] to Abu Dhabi, so that's why we had to take it, Explain Toto wolff. I think one of [Hamilton's] strengths is the way he's able to stop late and attack the corner but the car can't handle it… clearly when you're very strong on the brakes you need a car that's very good in the corners and as soon as you put your foot down on the gas you need a lot of traction. When the car doesn't give you any of that it's very difficult to cope with. He's got his heart on his sleeve, he expresses his emotions and that's totally allowed, that's okay."

Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to end their 12-year partnership on a high note in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, with the Briton set to close the most glorious chapter of his career with the German team before joining Ferrari in 2025.

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