03 March 2024 at 08:03
Just like Ferrari, Mercedes did not have a perfect day in Bahrain, where Max Verstappen wowed the competition with a convincing victory on Saturday. Cooling problems cost the team tenths per lap according to George Russell.
“It was a strange day today. The engine actually overheated straight away, so we had to manage that for the entire race. That was a shame, because we had a good start,” the fifth-finished Briton explained afterwards.
Russell, who started third, worked his way past Charles Leclerc in the opening phase, who himself was struggling with a brake problem in his Ferrari. Then the pace of the Mercedes dropped again.
“Very soon after that overtake I received warnings on my steering wheel. Managing the temperature cost us tenths of a second per lap. It’s a shame that we couldn’t show the true potential of the car.”
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Summary: Verstappen easily wins the opening race in Bahrain
More margin to cool the engine
Lewis Hamilton, who finished seventh, had the same problem. “There is certainly disappointment within the team, because these problems have cost us some pace. We had hoped for a better evening.”
The cause lies with Mercedes itself. The teams determine how much cooling they expect to need and adjust the bodywork with cooling openings accordingly. “It was simply the wrong decision,” Russell admitted.
“We really had a lot more margin to cool the engine. We shouldn’t make this mistake again. Because without this problem we could certainly have competed for the last podium place.”
Hamilton also partly raises his hand. His qualification on Saturday did not bring the seven-time world champion further than seventh place on the grid. “If I had qualified better, we could have finished much higher. We were already quite close to a number of other cars and everyone was having a hard time with the tyres.”
Foto: Getty Images
‘This is how you end up in a vicious circle’
Team boss Toto Wolff also blames Mercedes’ poor performance in Bahrain on the team itself. “We simply did something wrong with the cooling and that cost us a lot. The drivers always had to take their foot off the gas early and then the tires also work less. So you end up in a vicious circle.”
Yet there was still optimism at Mercedes. “We have a completely new car and we are still getting to know it. We see that it has speed, but we have not been able to utilize that here in Bahrain,” says Wolf. “We hope to be able to do that much better in Jeddah next week.”
Formula 1 will travel to the Saudi port city in the coming days, where the Grand Prix will be held on Saturday, just like in Bahrain. Both races have been moved forward a day due to the approaching Ramadan.
2024-03-03 07:03:00
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