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Can Mercedes catch up to Ferrari and Red Bull? 'Time needed to find pace'
- GPblog.com
George Russell made the podium for the first time with Mercedes in Australia. For Williams, he did it once before at the wet Belgian Grand Prix, which was hardly a real race in the end. Now the Brit did manage to get the podium over a full race distance, his first of this season.
After the successful 2021 season, where Mercedes managed to become world constructors' champion for the eighth time in a row, Russell had probably hoped for more podium finishes. He and his teammate Lewis Hamilton have only seen the podium once each after three races, both in third place.
Are the Mercedes problems fixable?
The reality is, in fact, that Mercedes is behind Red Bull Racing and Ferrari in the rankings this season. Problems at Red Bull allowed Mercedes to take advantage in Bahrain and Australia, but the mood is not yet positive within the team from Brackley. In the test week, they seemed to introduce a revolutionary design, with hardly any sidepods visible on the car.
However, that turned out to be a step in the wrong direction, as all of a sudden the speed couldn't be extracted from the car. Former F1 driver Marc Surer explains at Autobild that Mercedes needs time to get this speed out, as he does see potential in the car after three races.
"I'm sure the car has produced impressive data in the wind tunnel. Mercedes just has to reach the potential yet and they have to learn to handle this car, then the speed will come eventually."