We only had the fourth fastest car, the podium was in sight! Hamilton is not satisfied with the race in Bahrain

Formula 1 had its first race of the season on the weekend, namely the Bahrain Grand Prix. However, Sunday’s race will not be remembered fondly by the Mercedes team, which has not had the ideal start to the new season. In a post-race interview, it was Lewis Hamilton who spoke on the subject.

The Mercedes cars started the Bahrain Grand Prix from sixth and seventh positions respectively. George Russell, in fact, was the one who outperformed his teammate in qualifying, and so it was in the sixth starting slot that he lined up for the start.

After all five lights went out, Hamilton moved up two positions, beating Russell and also Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.

After that, however, race pace plagued both Mercedes drivers. There was even a situation in which Russell asked his engineer if Hamilton was slow on purpose or was struggling. And it was tyre degradation that forced the German team to pit early.

As a result, the seven-time champion dropped down the order during the pit-stop window, with Russell losing fifth place when he was overtaken by Spain’s Alonso after a beautiful duel.

However, later in the Bahrain Grand Prix, Hamilton returned to fifth, with Russell later moving up to seventh or eighth. On lap 32, for example, the Mercedes driver was overtaken by Lance Stroll.

This, it should be noted, was true for almost the entire Bahrain Grand Prix. And the fact that the Mercedes simply couldn’t match the Aston Martin’s great pace. Hamilton finished the opening race of the season in fifth place, Russell in seventh. And that’s thanks to Charles Leclerc dropping out.

We’ve got a lot of work to do

Beyond the result itself, however, the more serious news for Mercedes is that its drivers finished the Bahrain Grand Prix an abysmal 50 and 55 seconds behind the race winner.

“We had a good start. I overtook Fernando at Turn 4 and I thought this is a really good start. But then I was circling there, struggling with a lot of understeer, not being able to fully hit the apexes of the corners and keep up with the drivers in front,” Hamilton said in a post-race interview.

“At the end I was holding on to Carlos, but it wasn’t enough. We are the fourth fastest team at the moment and we have a really big job to do to close the gap,” he added.

A podium was in sight

“We were miles away, the podium was in sight. Overall, I had the same feeling as last year. We know we’re not where we should be and we know it’s not the right car. It’s tough. But I just have to try to stay positive, keep my head up and push the guys (mechanics),” he commented on the current situation at the press conference.

So what does the championship standings look like after the Bahrain Grand Prix? Two-time champion Max Verstappen is the leader, with Red Bull also leading the Constructors’ Cup standings.

F1, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1