formula 1
Bitter Mercedes reality: It’s only about second place again
The Brit George Russell drives a Mercedes car on the track in Melbourne. photo
© Hasan Bratic/dpa
Mercedes has already given up the fight against Max Verstappen. The former Formula 1 industry leader is looking for a way out of the crisis – and needs a new driver.
“We have to recognize that someone is doing a better job than us,” said team boss Toto Wolff in Suzuka. Max Verstappen dominated the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday and is racing towards the world title for the fourth year in a row, which is once again out of reach for the Silver Arrows. “No one will intercept Max this year,” said Wolff. It’s “just a matter of who will be the best of the rest.”
Silver Arrows in the fight for the B World Championship
After four of 24 races, Mercedes is not even in the top position in the fight for the role of first pursuer, essentially its own B world championship. Fourth place with 34 points in the team ranking is a disappointment. Above all, Ferrari (2nd/120) and McLaren (3rd/69), behind Red Bull (1st/140), are the opponents of the best racing team from 2014 to 2021. The German car manufacturer, Lewis, won the constructors’ championship eight times in a row Hamilton became driver world champion six times, Nico Rosberg once. Red Bull then moved past Verstappen after a change in the regulations.
“In 2026 there will be a big restart, and then there will be a realistic chance for all other teams to beat Red Bull,” said Wolff: “But before that there is still a whole season and three quarters – and in these months I don’t just want to Suffer.” That’s why solutions have to be found. Although record world champions Hamilton and George Russell only managed ninth and seventh places in Japan, things are going in the right direction. They occupy the same places in the overall standings, and together they don’t even have half of Verstappen’s points.
Hamilton takes the team to task
“When I look at the results, it’s clearly not good,” said Wolff. And above all, the result fiasco without a race win since November 2022 is unworthy of the global Mercedes brand. “We are certainly not leaving Suzuka happy, but we are convinced that more will come soon,” said Wolff. Last year’s car was a bad design, now it’s not quite as dramatic. “If we want to move forward in the field, we have to find more performance,” said Hamilton and demanded: “We have to keep working hard.”
The 39-year-old is moving to Ferrari next season, but announced that he wanted to say goodbye with his best possible performance. The seven-time champion cannot show even this at the moment and has to cope with the worst start to the season in his 18-year career. “We made some progress and that was positive,” said Russell (26), who will still be in the factory team’s cockpit in 2025.
Who will replace Hamilton remains unclear. Wolff would like to sign Verstappen, but this move makes no sense for the Dutchman in terms of sport. On the one hand, he has a contract with Red Bull that is valid until 2028 and could probably only leave early through a special clause. In addition, the 26-year-old is unlikely to want to simply jump from the best car into the car of a struggling midfield racing team. Other candidates include the Italian talent Kimi Antonelli (17) and the Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso (42).
Wolff: Wins against Verstappen are unrealistic
“The fight is on. We are fighting for second place, that is just as much our reality as it was last year,” said Wolff, giving an insight into the emotional world in his garage: “The expectation is always to get victories and championships. It is at all “It’s not satisfying to just fight for second place.”
The 52-year-old Austrian was asked whether it would be boring for the fans for the rest of the year. “I think Ferrari can get even closer to Red Bull and we can get even closer to Ferrari,” said Wolff, who also holds a third of the shares in the racing team. There could be exciting battles, especially in midfield, said Wolff. But the fans want to see exciting fights for the top spot. “We’re doing everything we can to put on a better show and challenge them,” said Wolff. The aim is to catch up with Ferrari as quickly as possible. “And we will do that again. That’s a much more realistic goal for us than being able to keep up with Max.”