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BARCELONA, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 23: Mercedes GP Executive Director Toto Wolff talks in the Team Principals Press Conference during Day One of F1 Testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on February 23, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Dan Istitene – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
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BARCELONA, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 23: Mercedes GP Executive Director Toto Wolff talks in the Team Principals Press Conference during Day One of F1 Testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on February 23, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Dan Istitene – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
It is getting bad to worse for the Mercedes AMG F1 team in the 2022 season. The team has been struggling to compete with their rivals, Ferrari and Red Bull, in terms of both qualifying and race pace. But in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying, the team got its most unexpected result yet. For the first time since Brazil 2017, Lewis Hamilton was knocked out of Q1. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff mentioned they tried something different with Hamilton and it did not work in the qualifying.
This lady is me seeing #Hamilton knocked out in Q1. The guys at the factory have some work to do. #SaudiaArabiaGP pic.twitter.com/RKj3FraCFF
— Tendekai (@Deh_Rehk) March 26, 2022
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Hamilton was nowhere near his teammate, George Russell’s pace, throughout the Q1 session. He was on average losing one second on the straights to Max Verstappen.
Mercedes team boss explains the reason behind Lewis Hamilton’s Q1 exit
In the post-qualifying interviews with Sky Germany, Wolff mentioned that the 7-time world champion had no grip during his qualifying runs. It was a massive shock to see the Mercedes driver struggling so much on a circuit he took pole on in 2021.
The Austrian mentioned that Hamilton’s result is a wake-up call for the German team in the 2022 season.
#F1: Wolff on Sky Germany: "We tried something on Lewis' car that did not work. He had zero grip on the rear axle. Time to wake up for us." #SaudiArabianGP
— Andreas Haupt (@andihaupt1) March 26, 2022
“We tried something on Lewis’s car that did not work. He had zero grip on the rear axle. Time to wake up for us,” said Wolff.
via Reuters
Formula One F1 – Bahrain Grand Prix – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – March 20, 2022, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in action during the race REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Lewis, too, was surprised by his lack of pace in the qualifying session in Jeddah. In his post-qualifying interview, the Mercedes driver mentioned he was struggling with setup throughout the session and could not hit the sweet spot.
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” Just struggled with the balance of the car and yeah, not where we wanna be,” said Hamilton.
READ MORE: Why Do Mercedes Dominate F1?
It is the possibility that the 7-time world champion might start the race from the pit lane. It is very clear that his car needs some changes before the start of the race tomorrow so that he can be more competitive and make progress.
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WATCH THIS STORY: Lewis Hamilton: Ranking His F1 World Titles From 2008 to 2020
He would look to target points in the race tomorrow and hope for a competitive package. But since this is a street circuit and Mercedes are lacking straight-line speed, it might be hard for Hamilton to get through the grid. Let’s see what changes does the team brings to Lewis’s car tomorrow.
