Yahoo Autos Mercedes make Lewis Hamilton vow after sobering Bahrain qualifying result
Tom Cary, Senior Sports Correspondent, in Sakhir
Toto Wolff finally admitted Mercedes got their car concept wrong last year and that they will now need a complete “change of direction” if they want to get back to winning world titles.
In what was a stunning admission after George Russell and Lewis Hamilton could only qualify sixth and seventh fastest respectively for Sunday’s season-opening grand prix in Bahrain, six-tenths behind the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, the Mercedes team principal admitted he no longer believed this current Mercedes package could ever be competitive enough to mount a challenge.
Wolff refused to concede defeat, however, even this season, calling for calm heads. And he vowed that Mercedes would get there and win Hamilton another world title before he retired. “We’re going to get Lewis to his eighth world title,” Wolff said. “Even if I have to push him around the track to help get him his eighth.”
It was a nice line. But this was another sobering day for the Brackley team in what has been a year full of them. Perhaps the most sobering yet. After Russell’s win in Brazil last autumn, and all those hopes over the winter that they might have closed the gap to Red Bull, the insistence that their concept was not the issue and that the philosophy retained huge untapped potential, ultimately, when it came down to it, they just were not quick enough.
Mercedes were not a million miles away. Their 0.6sec deficit in qualifying at the opening race this year was the same as last year. But with both Ferraris also ahead of them, as well as the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, it was enough for Wolff to call for a rethink.
Mercedes raised eyebrows when they launched the W13, the first car in a brand new set of regulations, this time 12 months ago. The look of the car, with its almost non-existent sidepods, was completely unlike anything else on the grid. But despite the car’s disappointing displays, the team always insisted the fundamental concept was not the issue. They argued that the porpoising – or bouncing – problems they encountered, particularly in the early part of last season, had prevented their engineers from focusing on pure performance.
When Mercedes launched the W14 earlier this month, still with the same overall philosophy, they were accused in some quarters of ‘engineering pride’ or stubbornness. Once again they insisted that their calculations suggested the concept was their best chance of unlocking the full potential of the car. Last night Wolff finally held his hands up.
“I don’t think that this package is going to be competitive eventually,” he said after Red Bull locked out the front row, ending any hopes of a fairytale pole for 41-year-old Fernando Alonso, who had topped the final two practice sessions in his Aston Martin but could only go fifth quickest. “We gave it our best go, also over the winter, and now we all just need to regroup, sit down with the engineers, be totally non-dogmatic, and ask ‘what is the development direction we want to pursue in order to be able to win races?’”
Wolff’s admission brought the curtain down on a qualifying session which promised much, but ultimately did not quite deliver. The gaps between the cars were very small, and the order fluctuated in the first two sessions. But ultimately Red Bull proved too good, locking out the front row without being at their best, with a setup which both Verstappen and Perez admitted was geared “more towards the race”.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – who finished just 0.103secs behind Verstappen – did say that he felt he might have taken pole, but Ferrari chose not to do a second run to enable them to start Sunday’s race on new tyres rather than used ones.
Further back, McLaren’s difficult start to the year continued with Lando Norris 11th and rookie team-mate Oscar Piastri knocked out in the first session and down in 18th.
Hamilton tried to put a brave face on his seventh place in the mixed zone afterwards. “It is not an impossible mountain to climb,” he said. But ultimately his team principal agreed with the assessment he gave after practice on Friday, when he concluded the car’s concept was always going to hold them back.
Wolff dismissed suggestions that any heads would roll. “At this team we play the problem not the person,” he said. “I have responsibilities. I need to fire myself if I want to do something [radical].
“No, we have all the ingredients to be successful. We got it wrong last year. We thought we could fix it by sticking to the concept of car. But it didn’t work out. So we just need to switch our focus onto what we believe is the right direction.”
Asked how long that might take and whether they could still challenge for the title this year, Wolff was circumspect.
“You know, motor racing is crazy,” he concluded. “I don’t know what is going to happen this year. We may find a silver bullet next week and gain five tenths. I haven’t seen any silver bullets before. But you never know.
“If you look at the pecking order today, you say ‘It’s not realistic’. But I’m looking at what we can find next week, what we can add to the car, what is the change of direction that we can implement and how quickly can we do that.
“Maybe we can turn the ship around this year. But it needs a lot to change the pecking order.”
Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying, classification
Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1min 29.708secs
Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:29.846
Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:30.000
Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Ferrari 1:30.154
Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:30.336
George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:30.340
Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:30.384
Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:30.836
Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:30.984
Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) MoneyGram Haas F1 1:30.809
Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:31.381
Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake 1:31.443
Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake 1:31.473
Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:32.510
Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:31.461
Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams 1:31.652
Kevin Magnussen (Den) MoneyGram Haas F1 1:31.892
Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:32.101
Nyck de Vries (Ned) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:32.121
Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:32.181
Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying, as it happened
04:35 PM
Lewis Hamilton speaks after his seventh position
"I went in with a really open mind, I woke up this morning thinking we were going to be a lot further behind. A lot of great work went overnight. We made a step forward today, the car was feeling much more alive this morning. When we got to qualifying the car just didn't feel alive, it felt average.
"The direction I am going in with my set-up I am hoping it works more for tomorrow. It's not an impossible mountain to climb. We can definitely close that gap, we just need to push like never before."
04:31 PM
Toto Wolff speaks to Sky Sports F1
"Well, the gap is not ridiculous considering we only run one tyre at the end but it's not where we want to be. It's maybe around four tenths but these are all irrelevant calculations, but that is the gap. This is what we need to find if we need to win. They both didn't have clean laps, there was maybe a tenth in a half there."
He says that they maybe could have overtaken Alonso had they done better laps.
On Hamilton's search for an eighth drivers' title and the driver's talk about their team's concept on the car:
"He's absolutely in the same choir. We are super critical within our team. We just need to get our act together. We are going to get his eighth, he has compared to Alonso another four years in him. Even if I need to push him around the track to win the eighth we're going to do everything [needed]."
04:27 PM
Watch: Verstappen's Bahrain GP pole lap
The lap that confirmed the 21st pole position of Max Verstappen's career 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fHPtpMT77T
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 4, 2023
He had enough. He seems pretty happy and both Red Bull drivers said their car is set up for the race.
04:18 PM
Max Verstappen reacts to his pole position
"It's been a bit of a tough start to the weekend yesterday and today not really finding my rhythm. Having such a strong car with Checo up there as well, it's amazing and I am looking forward to tomorrow. I think compared to last year everyone knows a bit more with what they are doing.
"The changes slowed down the car a bit but of course we are still going faster. I was actually positively surprised being on pole after the struggles I had in practice. Normally our race car is better, so let's see."
04:16 PM
Sergio Perez reacts
"It has been really tight qualifying. I don't remember such a tight qualifying battle... it's really marginal. You cannot leave anything on the table. In the end I wasn't totally comfortable with the balance but to get this start for the team is really special.
"If anything we prepared much more to do the race, we have more of a Sunday race car underneath us at the moment."
04:15 PM
Leclerc reacts to his third place
"There wasn't any issue. I think we were in the fight for pole which was a good surprise because I did not expect that after testing. We need to keep in our mind that in our race run we seem to be on the back foot compared to Red Bull.
"I hope it will also be like that on the race runs. Aston Martin was really quick, Mercedes was very quick in some parts. We are faster than we thought. In the race runs we seem to have a bit of weakness for now. Having a new tyre will help us."
04:13 PM
Q3 classification
VER 1:29.708
PER +0.138
LEC +0.292
SAI +0.446
ALO +0.628
RUS +0.632
HAM +0.676
STR +1.128
OCO +1.276
HUL (NO TIME)
Red Bull found (or had all along...) the lap time when they needed it. A creditable effort from Leclerc but he only did one run, so would suggest that he could have split the Red Bulls. Decent effort from Perez. The Aston Martin is quick, but not quite quick enough to get onto the front two rows, then.
04:11 PM
MAX VERSTAPPEN TAKES POLE POSITION FOR THE 2023 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX!
Sainz can't find the time he needs on his lap, nowhere near it, really. 0.446s the gap between Verstappen in first and Sainz in fourth.
Perez second, Leclerc third. All Ferrari second row. Alonso the best of the rest ahead of the two Mercedes cars.
04:10 PM
Q3 - Verstappen crosses the line and improves his time
By 0.189sec... Perez improves but is second! 0.138sec in it.
What does Sainz do in the final sector?
04:09 PM
Q3 - Verstappen a little slower after one sector
Perez does his fastest first sector, though... Sainz not far off, either.
Verstappen is faster after two sectors, though, 0.117s up on his previous best...
04:08 PM
Q3 - Verstappen now looks nailed on for this pole
Sainz and Perez the only men that can stop him, really. Unless Stroll finds the lap of his life...
04:07 PM
Q3 - Leclerc is out of the car
Not sure what's going on there, but he obviously won't be doing another run.
Some of the runs are out of sync here. Verstappen and Perez as well as Sainz are about to start fast laps. As is Stroll.
Not sure if Alonso will get another run, nor the two Mercedes cars.
04:06 PM
Q3 - Alonso into fourth
0.439sec off Verstappen, but faster than Sainz.
Russell goes fifth, slower than Hamilton... Hamilton is a bit further back and only seventh...
Hmmm.
04:05 PM
Q3 - Alonso begins his first flying lap
He's 0.130s down on Verstappen after one sector... not too bad.
Can he make up any time in the second sector?
Russell and Hamilton slower than Alonso after one sector. But close to one another.
Alonso loses another tenth in the second sector...
04:04 PM
Q3 - Order after the first runs
Mercedes, Hulkenberg, Ocon and Alonso have yet to set a time. Sainz got a bit messy in sector two which is where he lost time.
VER 1:28.897
LEC +0.103
PER +0.234
SAI +0.464
STR +2.029
RUS
HAM
ALO
HUL
OCO
Five minutes remain...
04:03 PM
Q3 - Close but not close enough for Leclerc
He's 0.103s slower... Sainz about half a second behind...
Stroll two seconds behind, but he did that on old tyres.
04:02 PM
Q3 - Verstappen with a 38.6 in S2
Perez loses a further tenth but Leclerc beats that by a smidgen!
Verstappen crosses the line with a 1:29.897 to go fastest... Perez cannot beat it.
What can Leclerc do?
04:01 PM
Q3 - Verstappen with a 28.7 in the first sector
Leclerc, Perez and Sainz not that far away from that mark, though...
03:59 PM
Q3 - Nine mins remain
Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz, Perez and Stroll out there. Stroll on the used soft tyres, everyone else on fresh sets.
03:57 PM
Q3 begins!
We're into the final reckoning here...
03:56 PM
Right, Red Bull favourites here...
Surely? A bit of pace in the bank. They have done the fewest laps of any team, avoiding doing two runs in Q2.
03:52 PM
Q2 classification
LEC 1:30.282
VER +0.221
RUS +0.225
HAM +0.231
SAI +0.233
ALO +0.363
PER +0.464
HUL +0.527
OCO +0.632
STR +0.845
Drivers eliminated: NOR, BOT, ZHO, TSU, ALB
03:51 PM
Q2 ends - Leclerc fastest
Ferrari find some pace with fresh tyres at the end of the session. Red Bull didn't run twice, and the track probably evolved by a fair chunk. So I'd still put Red Bull as favourites.
03:50 PM
Q2 - Norris into eighth briefly... but will he stay there?
As Leclerc goes fastest, Sainz third! Lance Stroll in the drop zone now, can he make it out...
Russell now in third, with Hamilton just behind.
Stroll into 10th! He knocks Norris out!
That reaction from Lance Stroll's mum ❤️ pic.twitter.com/W6mJ5hpfL7
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 4, 2023
03:49 PM
Q2 - Leclerc with the fastest first sector
But then Sainz beats that by about a tenth...
Ocon moves up from 13th to fourth...
Hulkenberg from ninth to third! Zhou into ninth... Tsunoda stays 14th though... Bottas into eighth...
Norris now into the drop zone as Alonso goes second fastest...
03:47 PM
Q2 - Final runs under way
Everyone out bar the two Red Bulls, who are a few tenths ahead of everyone else.
Zhou, Stroll, Ocon, Tsunoda and Albon the men trying to get out. Well, Albon isn't as he's staying in his garage.
03:46 PM
Q2 - 3 mins remain
Albon makes a mess of his lap, running very wide at turn four and then doing similarly, although more extremely, in turns six and seven. So he will have to have another go. Going to be hard for him to get out into the next session.
03:44 PM
Watch: Onboard with Fernando Alonso
POV: You're Fernando Alonso in Q2 😍 pic.twitter.com/I3CGcoKPVA
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 4, 2023
03:44 PM
Q2 - Order after the first runs
VER 1:30.503
PER +0.243
HAM +0.398
RUS +0.583
ALO +0.591
SAI +0.960
LEC +1.196
HUL +1.429
BOT +1.667
NOR +1.688
DROP ZONE:ZHO +1.730
STR +1.802
OCO +1.864
TSU +2.217
ALB (NO TIME)
03:42 PM
Q2 - Verstappen goes fastest!
A 1:30.503, already faster than last year's pole time. Perez can't beat him but is 0.243sec behind. Ferrari both set their laps on used tyres and are sixth and seventh, about a second behind.
03:41 PM
Q2 - Mercedes going well
First it's Russell in first but Hamilton edges him out. But Verstappen is absolutely flying and it looks a bit worrying...
03:40 PM
Q2 - Stroll crosses the line with a 1:32.305
Ocon isn't too far off that but Hulkenberg beats it by 0.373s, which shows it wasn't that good a lap.
Alonso smashes Hulkenberg's time by eight tenths!
03:39 PM
Q2 - We should see more from Red Bull here
They didn't improve on their second runs but they did not really finish them, either. And on their first runs they had used tyres. So here we go.
