George Russell, not Lewis Hamilton, is Mercedes’ closest rival to Ferrari’s dominant Charles Leclerc.
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Mercedes is second in the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship standings and George Russell, not Lewis Hamilton, is Ferrari’s as closest challenger in the F1 drivers’ battle after Sunday’s F1 Australian Grand Prix.
While not the result the team was hoping for in Australia, it wasn’t all bad for Mercedes.
This was a strong outcome, with Russell finishing third behind Leclerc and Sergio Perez while grabbing a first podium in silver, and Lewis Hamilton finishing fourth. But the seemingly positive news for Mercedes picture was at least slightly distorted by Max Verstappen’s engine failures and Carlos Sainz’s spinout.
Mercedes is still well behind Ferrari and arguably behind Red Bull. It does not yet understand how best to extract performance from its recalcitrant W13 car. Until Mercedes’ tech gurus can comprehend the root of the team’s issues, then there is no point throwing upgrades into the pipeline.
Hamilton, 43 points behind Leclerc, was keen to stay optimistic but was realistic about the situation.
“There are 20 races still to go,” Hamilton said. “If you think realistically with the way our sport goes, the top teams often develop at a similar rate. Will that be the case with this new car? Who knows. But I’m really, really hoping we can get in the fight. But with every bit of improvement we make, they (Ferrari) and Red Bull will probably make similar sort of steps, so it’s not going to be easy. And yes, the gap is pretty big right now but there’s a long way to go.”
Russell added that “we were a long way behind our rivals but here we are standing on the podium. We’ve got to keep this up while we are on the back foot, maximize our points opportunities and I am sure we will get there after a few more races.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff outlined that “clearly we haven’t got the pace yet to challenge Ferrari and Red Bull” but praised Russell and Hamilton for performing “at an exceptionally high level.”
This stage of the season is all about Mercedes clinging to the fight as it strives to understand and develop a package it maintains has strong potential. In that regard Melbourne was job done. But it has to turn around the situation soon because Leclerc and Ferrari are already streets ahead.
FI Constructors’ Championship
- Ferrari 104
- Mercedes 65
- Red Bull 55
- McLaren 24
- Alpine 22
- Alfa Romeo 13
- Haas 12
- AlphaTauri 12
- Williams 1
- Aston Martin 0
Keyword: Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton Still Searching for Answers after F1 Australian Grand Prix