Mercedes says they are on the “Right Trajectory”

Toto Wolff, Team principal at Mercedes AMG F1 has stated that the W14 is on the “Right Trajectory” after the team has suffer early season woes. Some of these issues appear to have been solved considered Lewis Hamilton’s pace in Australia. However, there are some suspicions that the result may be a fluke due to the number of on track incidents that occurred in that grand prix. You can read more about that race here. Australian Grand Prix Recap.

In an article with Sky Sports, Toto stated, “In terms of car development, it is encouraging to see that within three races, we understand the car much better, we have defined a clear direction where we need to go and I believe we are on the right trajectory…We need to consolidate our understanding and hopefully over the next few races we can make another step.”

The teams have had a 4 week break since Australia. It’s not clear who will be bringing new components to the next race at Baku. With the the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix its hard to say where the teams are on pace. One month is a lot of time for tweaks to the car. We are excited to see them unleashed again in Baku next weekend.

Mercedes currently sit in third in the constructors championship behind Aston Martin and championship leaders Red Bull Racing. You can read more about Mercedes’ progress at F1.com

This morning Scuderia Ferrari released a statement regarding the 5 second penalty Carlos Sainz received at the Australian Grand Prix. The penalty was given for contact made with Fernando Alonso during the final standing restart of the race. Ferrari appeal the penalty but the FIA stewards have dismissed their appeal and upheld the penalty. The statement from Ferrari reads as follows:

“We acknowledge the FIA decision not to grant us a right of review in relation to the penalty imposed on Carlos Sainz at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix. We are naturally disappointed, and felt that we had provided sufficient significant new elements for the FIA to re-examine the decision especially in the context of the particular conditions and multiple incidents that occurred during the final restart. We are however respectful of the process and of the FIA decision. We are now looking forward to entering broader discussions with the FIA, F1 and all the Teams, with the aim of further improving the policing of our sport, in order to ensure the highest level of fairness and consistency that our sport deserves.”

FIA Comments

The FIA stated the following after their verdict, “There is no significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the decision concerned. The Petition is therefore dismissed. We considered the fact that this collision took place at the first corner on the first lap of the restart, when, by convention, the Stewards would typically take a more lenient view of incidents. However, we decided that notwithstanding that it was the equivalent of a first lap incident, we considered that there was sufficient gap for SAI to take steps to avoid the collision and failed to do so. We therefore imposed a 5-second time penalty.”

Ferrari asked the stewards to take into account telemetry data from Sainz’s car, plus witness statements given by Sainz and Alonso. The FIA did not reconsider the Scuderia’s appeal based on this information. They deemed it “unnecessary for us to hear from SAI or hear from any other driver to decide that he was wholly to blame for the collision.”

The FIA decided that the supplied data “corroborated” their decision. The written statements from Sainz and Alonso were considered “not new significant and relevant elements to decide about the incident”.

Ferrari remain fourth in the championship standings with 26 points, behind third-placed Mercedes with 56 points.

After the Australian Grand Prix Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 driver George Russell publicly made a bold claim. Russell stated stated, “For sure they’re holding back, They’re almost embarrassed to show their full potential because the faster they seem globally the more the sport is going to try to hold them back somehow. I think realistically, they probably have seven tenths advantage over the rest of the field. Max has got no reason to be pushing it, nor has Red Bull. They have done a really great job, we can’t take that away, and we clearly have to up our game.”

The comment came after championship leader Max Verstappen extended his lead in the Australian Grand Prix by almost 10 seconds before the red flags. Verstappen responded to Russell’s criticisms by stating, “I mean, we just try to do the best we can with the development of the car, but it’s also about pace management. We didn’t really know, I think no-one really knew how long that hard tire would last, so it’s about just bringing it home because we had a bit of pace I think over the others. There’s no need to try and gain half a second a lap and destroy your tires to the end because you never know, a Safety Car can happen, red flags, like we had today. So yeah, it’s not necessary to risk all that.”

In response to the banter Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner laughed and stated, “That’s very generous of him. I mean, his team would know all too well about those kinds of advantages [referring to Mercedes run of 7 world championships]. There’s always an element of managing that goes on in any race. You could see because it was a one-stop race and a very early one-stop race, there was an element of tire management that was going on, which is what they were doing.

He continued, “Checo wasn’t hanging about, he wasn’t cruising round holding back seven tenths a lap because he didn’t want to show it. The grid was certainly a little bit closer at this venue. We’ve obviously weighted the car towards the race rather than qualifying. You can see perhaps the cars that warmed up their tires more aggressively perhaps suffered a bit more in the race.”

Lewis Hamilton’s Previous Comments

Red Bull Racing have also been the subject of discussion by 7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton. After the race in Jeddah Hamilton responded to a question on whether Red Bull’s dominance was bad for the sport. Hamilton replied stating, “I don’t know, it’s not for me to say, but I’ve never seen a car so fast. When we were fast, we weren’t that fast. That’s the fastest car I’ve seen compared to the rest. I don’t know why or how but he came past me with serious speed. I didn’t even bother to block because there was a massive speed difference.”

Verstappen responded to RacingNews365.com stating, “I think if you look at the statistics, then those statements are not correct. But we also do have a very good car. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Still, we are not as dominant as Mercedes has shown some years. I don’t pay much attention to that, that doesn’t get you anywhere. Whatever we have done in the eight years that Mercedes is so dominant, we also tried to close the gap. That’s the only thing you can do.”

Hamilton seems to have found some pace in Australia allowing him to secure a P2 finish. However, the Australian Grand Prix was plagued with safety cars and red flags so we may not know the true pace of the W14 Mercedes until the next race in Azerbaijan. You can read more about the outcome of the Australian Grand Prix here.

Reigning Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has threatened to leave Formula 1. Verstappen has recently shared his distaste for propositions put forth by the FIA regarding sprint races and changes to the race weekend format. He stated “I’m not a fan of how many races we do nowadays and I’m not a fan of changing the whole format [without practice sessions] either. They have to be careful not to change the whole DNA of Formula One. I do think it’s important that they don’t play with that too much, because then of course at one point it stops. The way I used to watch Formula 1 when I was younger, I really liked it, looking forward to the race on Sunday. When you do so many races as we do nowadays maybe you can cut out one practice session, but other than that, I don’t think you need to change many things. The only thing you have to look at is making the field closer, so the gaps between all teams, which leads to more exciting racing in general.”

Chatter in the paddock

The FIA introduce an idea to add sprint races to select race weekends. One one side proponents argue that this levels the playing field a bit and gives drivers more opportunities to score championship points. Opponents argue that the format increases risk for drivers at the will of fan demand.

Others such as Sky Fox Sports analyst and former driver Martin Brundle have other thoughts. Brundle recently stated in a Sky Sports commentary, “I don’t know if it’ll be changing. I like the format we’ve got now. Of course, we ended up with the qualifying system we’ve got and everything about Formula 1 because we’ve changed it in the past and finessed it and evolved. That’s the key word, it needs evolving.”

Brundle continued to speak on Sprint Races

“I don’t know why we’re messing around with the sprint concept already if I’m honest and again, I don’t see why it needs to be standalone, that’s the whole purpose. Teams and the drivers love data driven certainty and the sport and the fans want to sit down and watch some uncertainty which they certainly had in Melbourne.” He continued, “The whole purpose of the sprint race, and it’s worked on a number of occasions already, was to maybe just spice up the actual race day grid a little bit and brilliantly it gives us qualifying on Friday, sprint race Saturday and the main grand prix on Sunday.”

F1 Teams vote on sprint race format

Prior to the Australian Grand Prix start the team principals from every team met to vote on a format that would be agreeable by all parties. Their previously started concerns where that F1 didn’t need 3 practice sessions prior to qualifying. Other concerns were that the teams need clarify on how qualifying would be impact by the additional of sprint races. Would there be separate qualifying session for the sprint and grand prix? In terms of wear and tear what are teams being asked to account for?

Power unit and car component allocations are of the utmost concern here. More races and more time on track leads to more concerns for component longevity and reliability. Additionally, tire allocations and use are also a point of discussion. It would not be feasible to introduce sprint races and maintain the current tire allocation schedules for race weekends.

An agreement made?

Early reports suggest an agreement has be made. However, whether the agreement will be implemented will depend on additional approvals by a number of F1 governing bodies. It is yet known if these changes will be implemented before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 3 weeks time.

Redbull Team principal Christian Horner also spoke out telling the media, “The reality is it’s absolutely ludicrous to be doing the first sprint race of the year in a street race like Azerbaijan, but I think from a spectacle point of view, from a fan point of view, it’s probably going to be one of the most exciting Sprint races of the year. From a cost gap perspective, all you can do is trash your car and it costs a lot of money around there. So one race is enough in Baku. The fact that we’ve got two… yeah, there could well be some action there. But that’s part of the challenge and it’s part of the task that we’ve got.”

The proposed weekend format that appears to have the most traction is as follows:

Will Verstappen Quit?

In the past Verstappen has commented on his limited future in Formula 1. Its clear that he is not a huge fan of the format changes. He has previously expressed interest in endurance racing in the future but no real commitments have been made. However, Martin Brundle put it perfectly [referring to Max quitting F1], “I would be surprised, but if he doesn’t want to drive it, there are a million other people who would want to drive that Red Bull. I think what he is trying to say is ‘don’t mess around too much’. I get his point on that, but I don’t really see why that would make him stop.” We don’t see Verstappen making any drastic moves any time soon. He’s in the fastest car on the grid and will want to add to his legacy as a 2 time world champion.

If you didn catch the Australian Grand Prix you can check Australia Grand Prix Recap

Aston Martin has stunned the F1 world with their start to the 2023 season. Veteran and legend Fernando Alonso has secured 3 podium finishes in 3 races. Son of team executive chairman, and Aston Martin teammate, Lance Stroll has also score points in Bahrain and Australia. This effort has assited in landing Aston Martin F1 Team in second place in the constructors championship standings. This surprise early start ahead of Ferarri and Aston Martin F1 power unit manufacturer Mercedes. After the race in Bahrain Lawrence Stroll stated, “I said a couple of years back we’re on a five-year journey to be fighting for World Championships. I think there were a lot of doubters when I said that and I can understand the position we were sitting – still taking over from what was Force India, a bit of a conversion to Racing Point and then becoming Aston Martin.

“But I’ve made – we’ve made – significant changes. We’ve gone from 400 to 740 people. We’re building the greatest new state-of-the-art Formula 1 facility that we don’t move into until May 1, so the success of this year cannot be contributed to the facility. But I believe it’s a lot to do with my passion and vision to excite and stimulate everybody in the business.”

F1.com reports that the Aston Martin team has yet to deploy any component upgrades. This early success is promising nonetheless. Aston Martin team principal, Mike Krack stated to F1.com, “The team’s mission is very clear. Stroll [referring to Lawrence Stroll] has not been having any delay in telling us ‘When are we going to win the next one?’ Obviously he is happy we have made a step, but this is not enough for his ambitions. The good thing with Lawrence is you know where you stand – he wants more, and we will have to deliver more.”

Can victory be attained?

Surely F1 fans will be on the edge of their seats in anticipation for upgrades to the Aston Martin car. Additionally, fans will want to see a 100% recovered Lance Stroll behind the wheel. Lance Stroll suffer from a biking accident that resulted in him breaking both wrists and a few toes. Stroll raced two weeks after surgery. Questions continue to looming regarding his fitness status. Stroll’s result in Australia suggests so. Stroll finished P4 behind teammate Fernando Alonso to solidify Aston Martin’s second place standing in the championship. The Redbulls have set the benchmark for the 2023 season thus far. Time will determined if upcoming upgrades will be the answer for Aston Martin as they hunt for a race win in 2023.

You can read more about the results from the Australian Grand Prix here Australian Grand Prix Finishes in Dramatic Fashion.

The Australian Grand Prix started off with another lap 1 incident. Charles Leclerc missed his breaking zone and committed to the turn late which resulted in making contact with the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll in turn 3. After the contact, Leclerc was beached in the gravel trap and a safety car was deployed. The race resumed soon after on lap 3 but on lap 9 Williams driver Alex Albon lost the rear of his car in turn 7 and transferred a large amount of gravel onto the race track. Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg nearly made contact with Albon’s car as it spun back on to the track. The FIA stewards red flagged the race citing safety concerns. The race resumed at 15:33 local time after the gravel was cleaned off of the track on lap 10.

On the restart Nick De Vries and Esteban Ocon made contact in turn 3 but both cars were able to continue. The stewards deemed the incident a racing incident and no further action was required. Verstappen was in P2 at the restart but was able to take back P1 after losing two position at the race start on lap 13. On lap 18 George Russell’s Mercedes caught fire and a virtual safety car was deployed; ending his race. Verstappen led for the majority of the race but had a slight lock up on lap 48 that cost him 4 seconds of his previous 11 second lead; virtually eliminating any possibility of a safety car pitstop for fresh tires to finish the race. However, the drama continued until the end.

A Late Red Flag

On lap 53, Kevin Magnussen lost his right rear tire after making contact with the track barrier. The safety car deployed with 4 laps to go in the race. The top half of the grid decided to forgo pitting to avoid losing track position. After one lap under the yellow flag the stewards red flagged the race for a second time. This allowed all of the cars to put on fresh tires to close out the race. This led to a 2 lap shootout to close out the race. The race resumed at 16:56 local time. The drivers raised visibility concerns due to the position of the sun setting on the horizon prior to the restart.

The 3rd Start

At the restart Verstappen got away but behind multiple car incidents occurred. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly took each other out. Gasly had a lock up at the end of the straight and rejoined the track making contact with his teammate. Nick De Vries’ Alpha Tauri also made contact with Logan Sargeant with both cars running off track. In the chaos, Carlos Sainz made contact with Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin which put Alonso into the wall and dropped his Aston Martin to the back of the pack. Sainz was handed a 5 second time penalty. This penalty effectively dropped Sainz to P12 taking away his points finish. Alonso’s car was still operational despite the impact. It was seemingly unfortunate for Alonso as he had spent most of the race in P3. The red flag came out prior to the cars making it through sector 1.

By rule, this meant that on the restart Alonso’s previously lost position was given back because he was in P3 at the last restart. Unfortunately for Alpine, because both cars were not able to continue they will lose out on their position at the time of restart. This left both cars out of the points despite a spectacular effort from the team. The restarted at 17:33 for a rolling start which was before the 3 hour cut off for the overall race time limit. The race then ended under a safety car as a formality solidifying the finishing positions based on the reorder from the last restart.

The Outcome

Oscar Piastri secured his first points finish on his home turf and McLaren will finish with a double points finish. The was a refreshing race for McLaren after they struggled in the first two races of the season. Sergio Perez was able to salvage a P5 finish after starting from the pit lane. Perez also secure an extra championship point for fastest lap. Nico Hulkenberg finished P7 for Haas scoring valuable points for the team.

The final results were as follows:

1  Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing
2  Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +0.179 
3  Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +0.769  
4  Lance STROLL Aston Martin +3.082  
5  Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +3.320  
6  Lando NORRIS McLaren +3.701  
7  Nico HULKENBERG Haas F1 Team +4.939  
8  Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +5.382  
9  Guanyu ZHOU Alfa Romeo +5.713  
10  Yuki TSUNODA AlphaTauri +6.052  
11  Valtteri BOTTAS Alfa Romeo +6.513  
12  Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +6.594  
13  Pierre GASLY Alpine DNF
14  Esteban OCON Alpine DNF
15  Nyck DE VRIES AlphaTauri DNF
16  Logan SARGEANT Williams DNF
17  Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team DNF
18  George RUSSELL Mercedes DNF
19  Alexander ALBON Williams DNF 
20  Charles LECLERC Ferrari DNF

Max Verstappen secured his first pole position at the Australian Grand Prix today in commanding fashion. Verstappen set a 1:16.732 in Q3 which was just over 2 tenths fastest than second place finisher Mercedes AMG Petronas driver George Russell. Verstappen had slipped to P6 after setting an earlier lap time of 1:17.578s but charged until the end of Q3 to retake pole. Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton found pace despite early practice struggles and secured P3 on the starting grid. Despite Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s back to back top 3 finishes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia he was limited to a P4 finish in Australia setting a Q3 best of 1:17.139s. Alonso will be looking for an early lunge up the grid to continue his podium success in 2023. Aston martin teammate Lance Stroll was able to secure a P6 finish in qualifying setting a 1:17.308.

The Aston Martins appear to be in great form in 2023. After early embarrassment from being outperformed by Aston Martin who uses a Mercedes power unit. Mercedes AMG Petronas appears to have figured out at least some of their issues with pace and the car setup. It is yet to be determined if this early success in qualifying will translate to the rigors of the race.

Comments from Red Bull

Sergio Perez had a nightmare qualifying after locking up early in Q1 and sending his car into the gravel. Due to the position of the No. 11 Red Bull the session was red flagged and Perez was not able to get the car out of the gravel trap. No major damage to the car was observed.

Perez was frustrated when he stated, “It’s really hard to digest this one. To end qualifying on the second braking zone is really disappointing. But nothing I can do now. I have to look forwards. I hope we are able to fix the technical issue for tomorrow, otherwise it will be really hard to race like this. This morning we had the issue. We thought we had fixed it. But this morning I was just going all around. I was riding more on the grass than on the track but we thought we had fixed it. So, I was pretty confident on that part, but that wasn’t the case as soon as I touched the brake in Turn 3.”

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner said to Sky Sports F1, “He’s had a horrible day today. It started this morning, the car was late off the weighbridge. There was no major issue, and his plan in FP3 was always to run differently to Max, not do a long run, just do two short runs. His first short run, there was this issue. So, he never really recovered from that FP3. And then this lap, which was not going to be a consequential lap, to unfortunately lock up and go off… we are just checking all the data to see if there is something within the engine management that has contributed to that, so we are going through all that as we speak.”

Comments from Mercedes

Mercedes AMG Team principal did not appear to be overly excited regarding the P2 and P3 finishes by Russell and Hamilton. He stated “I think we need to be careful not to oscillate between mania and depression, but keep the thinking rational…We also know there’s some goodness in the car, especially if we put every step over a wee”kend right and we are able to extract what’s in the car, you can see that.”

Driver George Russell stated, “We weren’t expecting that, that’s for sure. A lot of hard work going on back at the factory, here in Melbourne and wow, what a session for us. The car felt alive; the lap at the end was right on the limit I’ve got to be honest. I was a little bit disappointed that we didn’t get pole position. We’ve got to go for the win. Max is going to be extremely fast, there’s no hiding that. I think it’s difficult to overtake around this circuit so the start, Lap 1, is going to be vital. The Red Bull has extraordinary top speed so it’s going to be very difficult to fight with Max but let’s see how we get on… If the opportunity’s there, we’ll go for it.”

Perez Concerns Heading into Australian Grand Prix

There seemed to be an ongoing issue regarding braking going into FP3 for the No. 11 Red Bull car. Sergio Perez had a costly lock up where he had to recover to the turn run off. The team is following up with the data to determine if something can be done to fix these braking issues prior to the race. Perez will be looking to salvage this race by finishing in the points to keep his championship run alive. There is currently a 10% chance of rain in the area so rain is not likely to be a factor. Melbourne has historically been a race where we can expect multiple opportunities for the grid to be shuffled around. Red Bull will be hopeful that Perez can pullout an effort similar to Max Verstappen in Saudi Arabia recovering from P15 to P2.

Australia Qualifying Results

The Australian Grand Prix practice sessions kicked off in dramatic fashion today. During FP1 there was a technical issue with race control and the GPS tracking system on track. The most recent reports state that it was an issue with the distribution of the tire monitoring data which resulted in FP1 being red flagged. After the restart Williams racing driver Logan Sargeant had a mechanical failure that saw his car powerless at Turn 11. This triggered a second red flag and by the time was clear there was not enough time to restart the session. Verstappen was fastest in FP1 which no one really challenging his lap times.

During FP2 Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso set the fastest time having taken advantage of the 1 hour of clear dry track prior to the rain coming in. Naturally lap times dropped after the rain and none really got another shot at race pace in dry conditions. There is currently a 40% chance risk of rain during qualifying later local time in Australia. Weather reports suggest variable weather with the risk of rain in the morning. Conditions are projected to improve into the afternoon. The rain isn’t the only worry. Multiple drivers complained over radio about tire grip in during the dry conditions. In 2022 Pirelli chose an unusual mix of the C2, C3 and C5 tire for Melbourne, but this year they have selected the C2, C3 and C4 tire compounds. We will see if the tire selection is an impact factor for qualifying in about an hour.

FP3 saw Max Verstappen on top with Fernando Alonso 0.162s behind and Alpine driver Esteban Ocon rounded out the 3rd slot with a differential 0.373s to Verstappen. Sergio Perez struggled to find pace in FP3 after a running third fastest in FP1. The top 10 drivers in FP3 were as follows:

Max Verstappen 1:17.565 24 Laps
Fernando Alonso 1:17.727 26 Laps
Esteban Ocon 1:17.938 23 Laps
George Russell 1:17.955 23 Laps
Pierre Gasly 1:18.094 23 Laps
Sergio Perez 1:18.123 18 Laps
Carlos Sainz 1:18.127 29 Laps
Lewis Hamilton 1:18.138 25 Laps
Lance Stroll 1:18.198 22 Laps
Zhou Guanyu 1:18.330 20 Laps

The STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix took place on the streets of Jeddah this past weekend and in typical Formula 1 fashion; no race can end without a little bit of controversy. Oracle Redbull Racing drivers Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez and Max Verstappen finished with the second Redbull 1-2 finish on the year and Aston Martin driver, and Formula 1 legend, Fernando Alonso showed he still has plenty in the tank racing at the top level at the age of 41 finishing in third. However, there was some controversy regarding Alonso’s third place finish. Alonso was handed a 5 second penalty at the start of the race for being slightly out of grid position lining up just to the left of the box. An early yellow flag followed by a safety car allowed Alonso to serve his time penalty while losing minimal time on track. The issue here is that Alonso was penalized after the race because the pit crew had the rear car jack lined up and touching the No. 14 Aston Martin while serving the penalty. The FIA guidelines state that a car cannot be worked on while serving time penalties. There is no doubt that the team car jack was touching the car during the 5 seconds served. At this point it was unclear whether this constituted “working” on the car or if it is a mere gray area in the pit stop penalty rules. F1.com released the following statement

After the race, and 35 laps after the incident, the FIA stewards issued a 10 second time penalty for the pit crew working on the car while serving a penalty. Just a few hours later the stewards came back with a reversal stating the following, “There was no clear agreement, as was suggested to the Stewards previously, that could be relied upon to determine that parties had agreed that a jack touching a car would amount to working on the car… In the circumstances, we considered that our original decision to impose a penalty on Car 14 needed to be reversed and we did so accordingly.”

After the race Alonso responded to the news regarding the penalty in an interview with Sky Sports F1 stating, “It doesn’t hurt much, to be honest. I was on the podium, I did the pictures, I took the trophy, I celebrated with the champagne. Now I have apparently three points less; I don’t have 15, I have 12.” Aston Martin racing wasted no time to release this tweet regarding the official P3 finish.

The race in Jeddah was otherwise uneventful compared to the drama and controversy of previous years since the circuit has been added to the Formula 1 calendar in 2021. However, speculation is flying all over the web regarding tension in the Oracle Redbull Racing camp. Sergio Perez led the majority of the race. After starting from pole and have a quick change of positions with Fernando Alonso prior to the opening of the pit window. Checo checked out at the front after an early safety car caused by Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll suffering a mechanical failure.

Towards the end of the race Checo’s racing engineer stated that he needs to run “1m:32.6s+ 4” on the team radio. It seemed that Checo assumed this meant to slow down pace and run 1:33.00 lap times until the end of the race. Teammate Max Verstappen had clawed his way from P15 at the start to P2 and was setting 1m:32.6s lap times in the closing lap; reducing the delta to Checo and ignoring team orders regarding reducing pace to ensure both cares finished in a 1-2. Checo was confused on why his team engineer was telling him to set lap times slower than Verstappen despite dominating the race and holding the fastest lap on lap 49/50 which would have secured Checo one additional championship point for the win.

However, on the final lap Verstappen found pace and was able to snatch the fastest lap away from Perez. Whether this was a direct dismissal of team order is unclear. However, what is clear is that in the post race cool down room, Perez did not appear to be thrilled that he lost the fastest lap point. Whether this adds fuel to the rivalry between the Redbull drivers is yet to be known. What is know is that Perez has been the ultimate team player in Verstappen’s key wins to secure 2 world championships. Perez also needed Max’s help toward the end of the 2022 season. Verstappen had already secured the world title and refused to give back a place that would have helped Checo in the drivers points standings. Maybe Perez is starting to think now is the time for him to be the front runner. We will follow this story as it develops in the coming races.

The Formula 1 season started in spectacular fashion with plenty of drama on track and veteran Fernando Alonso driving for Aston Martin finished race one with a podium alongside Oracle Redbull Racing drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez. One driver that didn’t have this luxury was 7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

After a poor showing in Bahrain, Hamilton has shed light on the disconnects that are happening behind the scenes at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 camp. One a podcast with BBC radio 1 Hamilton stated, ”I knows what are car needs”, and to be frank its hard to argue that he is wrong in this case. Racing drivers provide car manufacturers with the ultimate litmus testing for car feedback because for those 200+ laps in practice and qualifying the driver feels every bump and vibration from putting the car through the motions. So why is there all of a sudden a serious problem at Mercedes with the W14?

It is rumored that Hamilton had input on the W14 design but that input was not taken into consideration. Now Mercedes finds themselves behind in constructors championship points to Aston Martin; a power unit customer of Mercedes’ for the 2023 season. Last year, there were things I told them. I said the issues that are with the car,” Hamilton told the BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast. “I’ve driven so many cars in my life. I know what a car needs. I know what a car doesn’t need.” He continued saying, “I think it’s really about accountability, it’s about owning up and saying, ‘Yeah, you know what? We didn’t listen to you. It’s not where it needs to be and we’ve got to work”.

“We’ve got to look into the balance through the corners, look at all the weak points and just huddle up as a team. That’s what we do,” Hamilton added. “We’re still [multiple] world champions … just haven’t got it right this time. Didn’t get it right last year. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get it right moving forwards.”

Team Principal Toto Wolff is also feeling the pressure for Mercedes’ lack of performance on track. Wolff admits that “We are lost” in a recent interview with motorsport.com “We have no doubt, when you’re starting behind by half a second, that it’s going to be difficult to catch up to such great organizations like Red Bull, or Ferrari.” Mercedes opted to pursue a new car concept at the beginning of the 2022 season and Wolff has admitted in an interview with ESPN that they got things wrong.

“I don’t think this package is going to be competitive eventually,” he said. “We gave it our best go over the winter and now we need to regroup, sit down with the engineers, who are totally not dogmatic about anything — there are no holy cows — and decide what is the development direction that we want to pursue in order to be competitive to win races.”

“We got it wrong last year, we thought we could fix it by sticking to this concept of car and it didn’t work out. We need to switch our focus on to what we believe can be the right direction — what it is that we are missing and therefore those data points from this weekend are very important.” In what seemingly is an effort to stir the pot, Helmut Marko, advisor to Oracle Redbull Racing has stated that the German manufacturer [Mercedes] have “lost their way”.

Marko believes Mercedes have taken “a step backwards” compared to 2022, and that they will find it difficult to challenge Red Bull this year due to the cost cap restrictions and design flaws which creates setbacks for a team sometimes in to the magnitude of 1-2 years.

With that said it is refreshing to see a team principal such as Toto Wolff take responsibility for the mistakes in design and move toward more solution oriented outcomes. “We’re simply not good enough” he said. This is a true testament to the team culture at the Mercedes camp. 

Wolff continued by saying, “We need to switch our focus up to what we believe can be the right direction. What is it that we are missing and, therefore, those data points this weekend are very important. We see on the GPS where we are lacking performance, where we are good, and we just need to sort out what that is, and whether it is sticking with the sidepods on the car or the really subtle things that bring performance is a different question. But, within the group, we will embark on untreated paths.”