![]() Photograph: Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Imagesīarcelona then, often lays bare a car. Mercedes’ George Russell (left) and Lewis Hamilton compete during qualifying in Barcelona. This was most certainly not the result the Scuderia had been anticipating. Their car remains vicious on its tyres and Carlos Sainz, who started second on the grid, finished fifth, 45 seconds off Verstappen. They brought upgrades to this weekend’s race which, far from improving matters, may have been another blind alley. Having begun 2022 fighting Red Bull for wins they have fallen further and further away. How they react to a resurgent Mercedes and whether they can keep pace with them will be a fascinating subplot.įor Ferrari the indications in Spain were far more troubling. The former were unusually below par in Spain. ![]() It cannot, however, be taken for granted that they have necessarily leap-frogged both Aston Martin or Ferrari yet. In Barcelona beyond the headline of outpacing Aston Martin and Ferrari what really mattered was that finally, after 15 months, Mercedes have a platform they understand and that is key, as Hamilton pointedly noted, for the chance for him and the team to challenge Verstappen properly next season. For the past season and half the car had been a mystery, hard to set up and unpredictable, making it difficult to develop consistently. What became clear then in Barcelona was that for Mercedes this was a pivotal performance not on track on Sunday afternoon so much as it was for the long term. “Let’s keep our expectations real, there is such a long way to go to catch Red Bull but this is a good moment to see the development direction is right.” “We need to chip away and we are good at grinding once there is a setup direction we just go for it,” he said. “We learned we have a good car, we are much closer but you see where the benchmark is,” he said, referring to Verstappen’s advantage.Īt least perhaps for the first time this season there was also real optimism in his eyes. The Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, while clearly pleased also had to manage expectations. The gap is enormous and while Hamilton posited the hope of fighting Red Bull for a win by the end of the season that remains a major ask. Verstappen finished 24 seconds up the road from the seven-time champion and the Dutchman was largely cruising for the final third. Hamilton, it is clear, still wants an eighth title Mercedes want more titles but they will not be coming this year. Yet there is also acknowledgement after the success in Barcelona that there is still an awfully long way to go. They were right to enjoy the moment, the past year and a half has been torturous for a team used to competing for titles but reduced to hammering round in uncompetitive cars scrapping largely for at best a podium as Red Bull and Max Verstappen marched into the middle distance, champions elect already this season with 15 races remaining.
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