Max Verstappen is wary of the Mercedes
For the first time in several years, Mercedes does not seem capable of fighting for victory during the first Grand Prix of the season. Nevertheless, Max Verstappen warns about the potential evolution the German team could follow.
During Saturday’s qualifying session, Mercedes had to settle for a fifth place for Lewis Hamilton and a ninth place for George Russell. While this delay is extremely rare for the Silver Arrows, the reigning world champion Max Verstappen is wary and warns about the potential development of the W13 car.
Unlike Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari did very well this Saturday, as their four drivers took the first four places on the starting grid, with Charles Leclerc in pole position. Lewis Hamilton had warned the paddock that the W13 was struggling and that the team would not be competitive enough for the first Grand Prix of the season. But since Mercedes says the same thing every year, these statements had little impact and nobody in the paddock believed them, especially not the Dutchman.
However, we expected to see the W13 reveal itself during qualifying, which it did not do. Is Mercedes really struggling at the beginning of the season? Max Verstappen remains cautious.
« They are still suffering from dolphin-ing right now, but once they have resolved this issue, they will also have a very fast car. We all know that Mercedes can evolve impressively,” confides the world champion. « I was able to observe it last season, they were getting faster and faster as the season went on. There are still plenty of areas that no one has explored on these new cars,” declares Verstappen.
