After Lewis Hamilton’s disastrous qualifying result in Jeddah, Toto Wolff labeled Mercedes’ performance as ‘unacceptable’.
The thought of Hamilton finishing P16 during Qualifying in Jeddah was unfathomable. Mercedes never had the fastest package, but the Brit’s shocking result, surprised everyone in the F1 community.
His teammate George Russell on the other hand, did better to qualify in 6th for the race. Nevertheless, taking everything into account, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is upset about their overall showing.
Tonight wasn’t good enough. But let’s make tomorrow a better day. 👏 pic.twitter.com/CxkK5zc1aP
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 26, 2022
Hamilton described his car as ‘undrivable’ on Saturday evening, and admitted that he struggled with the balance. This is the first time the 37-year old didn’t take part in Q2 of a qualifying session since the 2017 Brazilian GP.
Russell will start P6, but the fact that Alpine’s Esteban Ocon out-qualified him won’t sit right with the Mercedes camp. After dominating the sport for the last eight years, the Silver Arrows are finally struggling.
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The Mercedes boss went on to say that they don’t shy away from competition. He compared their current situation to their early days in F1, when they were still finding their feet and struggling behind the Red Bulls and Ferraris.
“I always love competition,” said Wolff to Motorsport Week. “We had a really strong run of eight years leading the pack. Not always, but we kind of managed our way into the lead.”
“But this time feels a bit like 2013 when we just weren’t up to the speed of the Red Bulls and probably also the Ferraris. We kept fighting and this is how I feel at the moment, we need to fight,” the Austrian continued. “It’s certainly totally unacceptable where we are on performance.”
A tough night. But we’re staying positive. 👊 pic.twitter.com/ufjeRbfj9R
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 26, 2022
“We are third on the road, and sometimes not even that like today. It’s just not an option to stay where we are.”
Hamilton will start the race on 15th on Sunday. Mick Schumacher’s crash in Q2 has ruled him out for the Saudi Arabian GP, and everyone below him has been promoted up by one place.
