Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff called Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix “one of my worst days in racing” after disappointing finishes for both of his team’s vehicles.
Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished fifth and seventh respectively in the field of 20 — hardly a disastrous result on its face. But above Mercedes in third and sixth place were the bottle-green Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, cars and drivers that Mercedes consistently beat handily in 2022.
To make matters worse, the Aston Martins used Mercedes engines, meaning that Mercedes’ customer managed to build a better 2023 car than it did.
“I am not bulls——- myself and I am not bulls——- you,” Wolff told the media after the embarrassing result. “The gap is very big, and in order to catch up, we need to make big steps. Everyone is aware that this is not a matter of finding three-tenths of a second and polishing the car up. This is a matter of serious performance.”
Mercedes followed its own unique design philosophy with its 2023 vehicle, one that bears little resemblance to the championship-winning Red Bull setting the pace in Formula One.
Aston Martin’s big leap forward in the offseason seems to have come from the adoption of Red Bull’s aerodynamic designs to their chassis. With both engines being equal but the gap in pace so vast, Mercedes will wonder if Aston Martin’s Red Bull homage is closer to what it must develop if it wishes to challenge for race wins.
“The Aston Martins are very fast,” Wolff lamented. “And the Red Bulls are just on another planet. It hurts that they are so far ahead.”
Aston Martin, meanwhile, will take lots of confidence from their stellar showing in Bahrain. The UK-based team finished eighth in the constructor’s championship last season but looks set to leapfrog the midfield and challenge for fourth, or even third, in 2023.
Veteran driver Fernando Alonso, a longtime rival of Mercedes’ Hamilton, was buzzing with excitement over his Aston Martin’s performance on the track.
“This is a lovely car to drive,” the 41-year-old said, per ESPN, as he sped over the line to claim third place. Wolff, Hamilton, Russell and the rest of the Mercedes team have their work cut out for them to find some loveliness in their own vehicle this season.
