Rebound expected at Mercedes in Jeddah: “The opportunity to make immediate progress”

Disappointing: this is the right adjective to describe the performance of Mercedes in Bahrain. The Silver Arrows were not able to fight for the podium, much less for victory last weekend on the Sakhir track, despite great promise shown during Free Practice and qualifying. Starting 3rd, George Russell was unable to defend his position and fell to 5th place, 46 seconds behind the winner, Max Verstappen), while Lewis Hamilton, less well qualified in 9th place, did not do better than 7th at the finish. However, the two W15s were hampered by overheating problems during the Bahrain GP, which would have cost five to six tenths per lap, according to Toto Wolff.

“We were hoping for a better performance after practice and qualifying. Both drivers were happy with the balance achieved at the start of the weekend and the more stable platform offered by the W15. Unfortunately, on Saturday evening, our cooling performance did not live up to our expectations, he says. Indeed, both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were instructed to "take their foot off the gas" to remedy this overheating, which further compromised the car's performance.

“This forced us to go into management mode from the start, which had the effect of reducing tire temperatures below the optimal window, explains the Mercedes Team Principal. It cost us the opportunity to show something closer to our true potential. It was a frustrating start to the season, but we will learn from it. »

Mercedes will « continue your learning » of the W15

A learning error, shall we say, as Mercedes releases a car entirely new compared to its predecessor this season. For the Austrian leader, the experience acquired in Bahrain must be applied this weekend, in Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where a rebound is expected and imperative.“We have an opportunity to make progress immediately. Jeddah is a very fast urban circuit. It will be good to continue our learning with the new car on a circuit very different from that of Bahrain. We will be aiming for a more consistent weekend and looking to understand our true performance compared to the rest of the grid”, told Toto wolff.

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