“Even with DRS, we couldn’t catch up with the ones in front of us”: Mercedes customer teams admit they’re worried about their power-unit’s lack of pace

The Mercedes power-unit’s performance wasn’t convincing at the season opener in Bahrain and customer teams are worried about it. 

In terms of pace, Mercedes weren’t expecting much going into the opening weekend of the 2022 season. Even during pre-season testing, their straight line speed turned out to be lesser than that of Red Bull and Ferrari.

At the Bahrain GP however, neither Lewis Hamilton nor George Russell were able to get into the top 14 on the speed-trap. They qualified for the race in P5 and P9 respectively.

On Sunday, Hamilton was able to earn a last grasp third place finish after the Red Bull cars had to be retired due to engine issues. Russell finished behind him in fourth place.

The other Mercedes powered cars on the other hand, suffered massively throughout the course of the weekend. During a point mid-race, both of the Williams, McLaren and Aston Martin cars filled up the bottom six places.

With an engine freeze now set to be effective in F1 until 2026, the Mercedes customer teams admit they’re worried about how they’ll fare.

Also read: Toto Wolff reveals what Mercedes will do to improve car performance at the Saudi Arabian GP

Mercedes power unit’s lack of pace made racing very difficult, says Nico Hulkenberg

Hulkenberg filled in for Sebastian Vettel, who was out with a positive Covid test, at Aston Martin for the Bahrain GP. This was his first F1 appearance since he stood in for Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll at Racing Point in 2020.

His last appearance in F1 also saw him drive a Mercedes powered car. While comparing the two, the German admitted that the current engine does not have as much power as it’s predecessors.

“It seemed sort of off today,” said Hulkenberg. “Even with DRS sometimes I just wasn’t catching people. We seemed to be a little bit down on speeds on the straights.”

The chequered flag falls here in Bahrain. 🏁

Lance and Nico gave it everything out there tonight. #F1 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/kHmiCY7VtT

— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) March 20, 2022

Another person who critical of the Silver Arrows’ power package was McLaren’s Lando Norris. The Surrey based outfit endured a very difficult Bahrain GP, and Norris reveals that their engine’s lack of pace didn’t help.

“I mean, it’s definitely not helping,” the McLaren driver said. “I think we’re definitely lacking on that end compared to the other guys. But I saw some other problems with other guys as well. So reliability is good, and I guess that’s a positive at the minute.”

Also read: Nico Hulkenberg reflects on disappointing ‘super-sub’ outing for Aston Martin in Bahrain