Mercedes did not extract all the potential of its F1 car during the Grand Prix in Jeddah
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix race proved to be frustrating for the Mercedes team, as George Russell spent a large part of the race struggling to overtake Fernando Alonso, while Lewis Hamilton's strategic gamble did not quite pay off.
After locking out the fourth row on the grid, Russell and Hamilton found themselves on different strategies when a safety car was called following Lance Stroll’s accident. Russell went for hard tires during his pit stop, while Hamilton stayed on medium tires.
Russell was unable to progress much further behind Alonso and ultimately had to settle for sixth place: « The reflection was just seeing the back of Fernando throughout the race! I was between 1.1 and 1.6 for 40 laps, so it was a bit frustrating. When he went faster, I followed. When he went slower, I followed, and I couldn’t get closer. A long afternoon. The feelings are mixed compared to qualifying, so we need to understand where the car is at and what we need to improve for Melbourne,” Russell said jokingly in an interview with the Formula 1 team.
A bet that doesn’t pay off for Hamilton
Hamilton extended his stint on medium tires until the 37th lap, but it didn’t pay off as he finished the race in P9. Despite the unsuccessful strategy, he believes it was worth trying, even though he lost a position in the standings. – « At the moment, we are fluctuating a lot in terms of performances. We see potential in the car, but unfortunately in these last two weekends, we haven’t really shown it when it mattered, so we have to understand why and what we need to do. But as we’ve seen, it’s very close between us, McLaren, Aston, and Ferrari. We just need to be at the top,” explained Hamilton to Formula 1.
Perspectives for improvement for Mercedes
Hamilton acknowledges that Mercedes has struggled to bounce back at the Jeddah event, especially on high-speed circuits. However, he remains confident in the team’s performance at low and medium speeds: “The plan was to go long […] We did our best, hoping for a Virtual Safety Car or something like that, but it never happened to us. But it was worth the risk. Unfortunately, we took a step back, at least we lost a position, but I gave it my all and it’s the best result I could achieve.” To remain competitive, they must now focus on improving performance on high-speed circuits in order to bounce back in the upcoming races.
The next Grand Prix will take place on the weekend of March 22nd to 24th, in Australia. The Albert Park circuit is known for its long straight of 1.3km, which may allow the Mercedes cars to secure better positions in the drivers’ standings.
