In the 2022 F1 opener, Ferrari rose to prominence, grabbing the first and third places in qualifying, and Leclerc pushed Verstappen to become the first pole position winner of the new season.
While everyone marveled at the speed of Ferrari racing, we can see that the Competitiveness of the Mercedes team is obviously insufficient, compared to Ferrari and the old rival Red Bull, mercedes' performance has a very obvious gap.
Hamilton trailed Pole Leclerc 0.68 seconds in 5th place and even 0.317 seconds behind Fourth-placed Perez, who did not fare well in Q3, trailing the top spot by nearly 1.7 seconds.
Leclerc said with some surprise: "After three exercises, I still have some doubts. Apparently he himself did not expect that Mercedes would have such a big gap.
Leclerc: Mercedes are not opponents
"Obviously, they're not in their comfort zone right now. But if you think back to the experiences of previous years, they will always have a lot of reservations, and I believe they still have a lot of potential this year. But they no longer have absolute backhand qualifications, and they have bigger problems than in previous years. "The number one problem Mercedes faces is dolphin jumping.
Leclerc has always seen Mercedes as their strongest opponent, at least before qualifying, but now his view has changed. "Looking at their speed on Saturday, I don't think they're opponents on Sunday." At least in Bahrain, Mercedes should not be able to threaten Ferrari and Red Bull.
Verstappen said: "We can see obvious bounces. I think racing cars are not easy to handle, good and bad. Mercedes also needs to solve a series of problems, and if they succeed, they will be fast. ”
Verstappen: Mercedes is in trouble
Red Bull Racing wants to maintain a lead over Mercedes, whose car development is clearly in trouble.
Vestas said: "I know how fast Last year's Mercedes were, it's hard to beat them at any point. ”
The new F1 regulations are a double-edged sword, and some teams can tap into more potential. But in the eyes of the defending champions, Mercedes, while facing a tough job, will certainly fill in the loopholes.
"What we have to do is focus on the development of our own car, because next week we may have a completely different situation than we are now. Mercedes will not settle for a stop here, and there cannot always be so many problems. ”
SEANES: Mercedes will fight back
Another Ferrari driver, Sainz, also thinks Mercedes will be on track soon and they will "hit back".
'We all know that Mercedes are not just strong from the beginning of the season, but strong all season."
"It looks like they're really having a problem because they don't have the ability to compete for pole position. This is a bit of a surprise. But I'm sure they'll fight back. What we have to do now is to maintain our own R&D cadence, because Mercedes' R&D speed is very amazing. ”