March 5th 2023.
(Image Source: https://metro.co.uk) Lewis Hamilton finished fifth in Bahrain
Sir Lewis Hamilton took some positives from the Bahrain Grand Prix but his Mercedes boss Toto Wolff did not, referring to it as ‘one of the worst days in racing’.
Hamilton achieved fifth place in Sakhir, with his teammate George Russell coming in seventh, roughly 50 seconds behind the victor of the race, Max Verstappen, who headed the Red Bull 1-2.
As per pre-season testing, it was predicted that Red Bull would be the leaders this year with Mercedes contending for the best of the rest spot against Ferrari and Aston Martin, and that is exactly what happened in the first race of 2023.
Nevertheless, Hamilton remained hopeful post-race, appearing confident that the W14 car could keep up with their opponents having already made notable progress since testing.
‘I gave it everything. I am generally content with the race. It was much better than Qualifying and I am generally content with regards to my performance,’ the seven-time world champion told Sky Sports.
‘I thought the team did a great job in terms of pit stops and just unfortunately the car is not there at the moment. We must work hard to add downforce as soon as possible.
‘Anything from the wind tunnel, we need it tomorrow. We must really push hard to try and reduce that gap. Overall, it is just lacking in performance so we have to keep working on it.
(Image Source: https://metro.co.uk) Hamilton had a great duel with Fernando Alonso
‘The Red Bull speed today was obviously huge, must have been at least a second a lap. But those around us, I think we can catch up at some point.’
However, his team principal Wolff did not agree with this optimism, mirroring Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc by saying that: ‘Red Bull is on another planet.
‘One of the worst days in racing. Really not good at all, we were lacking pace on all sides.
‘That is what hurts because they [Red Bull] are so far in the lead, it reminds me of our best years because we just put a second on everybody else.
‘That is the benchmark and we have to do one step at a time to come back and we can do that.’
After a disastrous 2022, where they earned just one race all season, Mercedes were hoping to be back in contention for victories right off the bat in 2023 but with their rivals all taking a greater step ahead this could be another very irritating campaign for the Silver Arrows.
MORE : Charles Leclerc says ‘Red Bull are on a different planet’ after Max Verstappen dominates Bahrain Grand Prix
MORE : ‘Unreal!’ – Fernando Alonso claims surprise podium as Max Verstappen wins Bahrain Grand Prix
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