MERCEDES TEAM principal, Toto Wolff believes that Mercedes are not one of the favourites for this year's Formula 1 championship after last weekend's events in Bahrain.
Wolff's Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished 3rd and 4th on the grid behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez this weekend,
However the German believes the the team that won the last eight consecutive constructors’ championships and seven of the last eight drivers’ titles believes that Mercedes have no chance this year as they battle with car problems.
Toto Wolff says Mercedes are out of F1 title contention after one race https://t.co/OtwkCK513n via @IrishTimesSport
— Irish Times Sport (@IrishTimesSport) March 21, 2022
Mercedes rivals Redbull had both their drivers retire from the race with car defects allowing Hamilton and Russell to finish the race ahead of the pair despite the car defects.
Wolff said unless they solved the issue then any hope of them winning the title back from Redbull is remote his year.
“If you look at the pecking order today it seems a very long shot to even think about being in contention for any of the championships,” Wolff said.
“Realistically when you are third on the road you can’t think about winning it.”
Hamilton, who has been positive despite the setbacks his team faced, was clear that the problems will not be solved before this weekend’s meeting in Saudi Arabia, noting that the issues cannot be addressed merely by adjusting the setup of the car.
“I’m hoping for the next race we manage to find some improvements,” he said.
“But it’s a fundamental issue that’s going to take a little bit longer to fix.”
“Given that we have been faced with these challenges which we were not expecting, no one’s been down during this phase where we’ve been struggling,” Hamilton said.
“Everyone’s stayed positive, everyone’s just kept their head down and kept working. No one’s moaning and that’s great to see.”
LET’S GOOOOO!!!! First win of the season ❤️
So incredibly proud of the whole team for the incredible work produced to get us back to this level. It is only the beginning, it’s now time to work harder than ever to stay there 👊 @ScuderiaFerrari pic.twitter.com/OcXcoX54KN— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) March 20, 2022
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