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Despite some indications that Mercedes might achieve success in the recent race in Baku, it turned out that the German team struggled to secure a positive result, particularly for Lewis Hamilton. The experienced Brit finished in 9th place, while his teammate, George Russell, ended up in 3rd place. Reactions from Mercedes officials after the race suggested they were not particularly disappointed with Hamilton’s performance, likely having anticipated such an outcome.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff mentioned in a media interview that he expected a challenging race, as Baku is known for its difficulty in overtaking. Wolff highlighted the issue of tire overheating, which forced his drivers to take a step back. Despite Hamilton’s determination and desire to make an impressive showing, he didn’t have the strength to achieve more in this race.
“We knew it was going to be a race of misery because it’s so difficult to overtake in Baku, and that’s what it was,” Mercedes team principal Wolff said, as quoted by Crash.
“The moment you come close you overheat the tyres and then you go backwards, so that’s what happened to him.”
Mercedes faced a tough situation, knowing they had to put a new power unit into Hamilton's car at some point in the season, following the engine failure in Australia. Toto Wolff revealed the reasoning behind this decision, indicating that there were two main options the team’s leadership was considering. Wolff and his team hoped that the Austin race could be a great opportunity for them, though they were still uncertain if their choice would turn out to be the right one.
“I think there are two difficult philosophies and we discussed it at length.
One is that you just swallow the pill here because starting from P7 we don’t know where that would have gone, and then doing it in Austin.
But we feel that Austin is an opportunity so that was the decision. Right or wrong, I don’t know, but it was a close call.”-Wolff said.
Lewis Hamilton on the race
After the race, we had the chance to hear from the experienced Briton, who wasn’t particularly happy with the outcome. The frustration was evident in the voice of the 39-year-old, who had expected significantly better results.
Hamilton began his explanation of the race by stressing that he had anticipated a disastrous outcome ever since the decision was made the night before.
The great Briton stressed that a component on his car had not been properly constructed. He described the handling as the worst balance he’s ever experienced, stating that the car had excessive front-end grip but lacked rear grip. This forced him to drive aggressively to manage the front end and slide through corners, which was an unusual and difficult driving experience for him.
He also mentioned that given the car's performance, he realized overtaking would be difficult and it was tough to stay close to others throughout the race. Hamilton wasn't sure why their pace was so poor and acknowledged that sometimes such issues occur.
George Russell reacts
George Russell was somewhat more pleased with the race, having managed to finish on the podium. The Briton demonstrated the pace needed to secure a top-three position. In a media interview, George highlighted how challenging the race was and mentioned that it was difficult to draw definitive conclusions about what to expect. He also noted that he still doesn’t have answers to some questions, particularly regarding the tires.
"It was a really odd race. The first 20 laps we were 1.5 seconds off the pace, the last 20 laps we were one second quicker than Piastri or Charles [Leclerc], 0.3 or 0.4s quicker than Carlos and Checo," Russell told Sky Sports F1.
"These tyres... it's the same car, same driver, same track. How you can have two extremes, I don't know?"
Norris clarified that there was no time for patience during the race. He pointed out that Charles Leclerc pulled ahead by 17 seconds in just 15 laps, while he was doing everything he could to manage and control his tires.
He described the situation as feeling like he was rapidly losing performance, but when he switched to hard tires, the car felt capable of winning the race.
At the start, he felt like his car was as slow as a car starting from 20th position. Norris expressed frustration, stating that all drivers face similar issues with the tires week in and week out. Despite 14 years of using these tires, no one seems to fully understand them.
The Mercedes driver is trying to find answers to some questions, hoping for better performances in the upcoming races.
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