Mercedes is a “very long shot” to continue their championship-winning run for a ninth straight year, team boss Toto Wolff admits.
The Brackley-based team has begun Formula 1’s new era of regulations on the back foot, as porpoising issues restrict their ability to unlock the potential from their 2022 car.
As a result, in Bahrain, both drivers ran fifth and sixth, well behind the leading Ferraris and Red Bulls before Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez retired in the final laps, promoting Lewis Hamilton to third and George Russell to fourth.
Sometimes life comes at you fast. ? pic.twitter.com/HAW9XKyflE
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 20, 2022
But with such a performance deficit to make up, Wolff concedes any hopes of more title glory this season are currently slim.
“It’s too early to really look at the championship as it stands,” the Austrian was quoted by The Race.
“If you look at the pecking order today it seems like a very long shot to even think about being in contention for any of the championships.
“But if I look at it as a single race weekend, we probably scored the maximum points we could have and we need to take it from there.
“Every single weekend counts and at the moment it’s singular events because realistically when you are third on the road, you can’t think about winning.”
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Hamilton admitted his podium in Bahrain was “fortunate” but “remarkable” given the situation Mercedes are in.
And while the team is expected to eventually solve the porpoising that has hampered many teams since the return of ground effect aerodynamics this year, the Briton isn’t putting a timeline on when.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said on if a solution could come for this weekend’s second race in Saudi Arabia. “But of course, we’ve learned a lot from this week.
“Their [Ferrari’s] straight-line speed, as well as the Bulls, were very quick in a straight line and their performance through corners is quite a bit different to us.
“So the car was very hard to drive, but it could always be worse. So I’m hoping for the next race we manage to find some improvements. But it’s a fundamental issue that will take a bit longer, I think, to fix.”