Mercedes is undoubtedly the best F1 team as they have won eight constructor titles in the row. However, the German constructors are currently struggling in pre-season testing and free practices. Despite all this, team principal Toto Wolff is still optimistic about his F1 team although, he votes rivals like Red Bull to win the first race.

The German team had a poor testing session in Barcelona last month. Therefore, the German constructor came up with their major but controversial sidepod upgrades. But they also didn’t do them much good as the Silver Arrows continued suffering from poor results in the Bahrain testing.

Mercedes is currently in Bahrain for the first Grand Prix of the season. Yesterday, both the Silver Arrow drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell drove the W13 in Bahrain for the Friday practice. But they again didn’t manage to finish in the top 3. The struggling phase continues even on the next day and both drivers are having issues driving the car.

Toto Wolff remains optimistic

Toto Wolff revealed that the 2022 challenger has some issues. But the Silver Arrow boss is still optimistic even after the struggling performance. Wolff isn’t sure that they will even win the first race. But he also believes the fixes will improve their performance and they still have enough time in their hands to overcome the issues.

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“That’s just one of five or six issues where we believe there is big performance to gain,” Wolff shared.“Even if you lose a race or two or you end up outside of the podium, nobody’s protected against DNFs or crashes. We’ve seen last year, they played a big role.”

Mercedes vote rivals Red Bull and Ferrari to win Bahrain GP

The Brackley-based team is suffering from their car and is still not able to get the best out of the W13. Even the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton isn’t sure about winning the first race in Bahrain. He instead favors the Italian F1 giant Ferrari for the victory in the Bahrain circuit. Meanwhile, the Silver Arrow boss believes their rival, Red Bull might be the one to win. Toto even admitted, “Red Bull is in a league of its own.”

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The favorites to win Bahrain GP, like Ferrari, are still cautious about the German constructor. They even pointed out to last season’s first race. Similar to this year, Mercedes had a tough time last season in the pre-season testing. However, then they won the season opener. Now, it would be fascinating to see what the Silver Arrows have in store for the much anticipated 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix.