Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff revealed why the Brackley-based outfit were “frustrated” after the Qatar Grand Prix despite scoring a valuable amount of points.
On the back of a very strong display on Saturday, Mercedes found itself in a different situation on Sunday at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli made a good start, and found himself fourth in the early stages. However, he lost out to the Williams driver Carlos Sainz in the first round of pit stops and was unable to recover it as the Spaniard displayed an unexpectedly strong race pace.
After Lando Norris completed his second mandatory stop, Antonelli gained a place and appeared to be able to absorb the pressure from the McLaren driver, but he made one late mistake which allowed the championship leader to slip through.
His team-mate George Russell suffered a bad start which saw him drop to seventh behind Sainz and Fernando Alonso. The Briton lost position during the hectic first round of pit stops as he was held up by pit lane traffic.
Despite his stellar performance in the 19-lap Sprint on Saturday, Russell was unable to overtake the Racing Bull of Isack Hadjar on his own, but he inherited a place when the Frenchman retired late on due to a puncture.
Reflecting on Mercedes’ up-and-down weekend in Qatar, Toto Wolff said: “We are frustrated with how our race played out today. It was a difficult evening where we could have brought home a podium at the very least, along with good points, but mistakes meant we didn’t take advantage of the situation.
“George had a tricky first lap, losing positions as he suffered from running on the lower grip side of the track. From there, the lap seven safety car meant we, along with almost the entire field, boxed and we were locked in strategically. It was the right call to box both cars but a slow stop with Kimi cost us a position to Sainz and that in turn held up George.
“It was almost impossible to follow closely and set up an overtake so we knew it would be a long race from there. Both drivers maintained pressure on those ahead though and were driving on the limit.”
“We are fighting for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship and that is very important to us. Kimi was also pushing for his third podium in a row. Any view that he ‘let’ Norris past is hard to understand. It was a simple mistake and a frustrating one for both him and the team.
Signing off with a word for the season finale, Wolff added: “We turn our attentions to Abu Dhabi and the final race of the season. We have a 33-point advantage over Red Bull so P2 is very much in our hands.
“We want to end the year and this era in F1 on a high and will be looking to do so in what is likely to be a spectacular championship-finale,” the Australian concluded.