“A car that clearly they’ve misunderstood,” Damon Hill describes where Mercedes came short in 2022
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When fans from all over the world tuned in to watch the 2022 season opener Bahrain Grand Prix, the memories of the massive competition between Mercedes‘ Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the last season were still fresh on their minds. But the race at the Bahrain International Circuit changed everyone’s perception regarding how the season might turn out to be. Ferrari came at the top while Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas surpassed both the Mercedes during the Qualifying, and the two Red Bulls could not even finish the race.
Right from the Bahrain Grand Prix, Mercedes went headfirst into some grave problems with their W13 racecar, which hampered their Championship campaign throughout the 2022 season. They simply could not find an answer to the pospoising issue which was causing back ache for their drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell and this further worsened their results. Meanwhile, Ferrari failed to measure up to Red Bull once the Austrian team unlocked the key to their success in 2022, and the Italian team had to end the season in the second place.
In a recent interview, Damon Hill dissected all the ways Mercedes failed to perform better in the recently-concluded season and thus, had to settle for the third position in the Championship standings after Mercedes and Red Bull. According to the former F1 racer from Britain, the Stuttgart-based company has more work to do than Ferrari in order to get back to their winning ways after such an abysmal performance in 2022.
Related: “We will do everything in our power,” Toto Wolff warns F1 teams of a Mercedes resurgence in 2023
Damon Hill believes Mercedes have more work to catch up on than Ferrari in order to improve their results in the 2023 F1 season
1996 World Championship winner Damon Hill knows exactly well that Formula 1 is one of the most demanding and competitive sports on Earth, and there is no such thing as an established dominance in it. While Mercedes did lead the Championship standings for eight consecutive years before 2022, they had a fall from grace last year. Speaking on this, Hill said, “Mercedes have come out with a car that clearly they’ve misunderstood something and they’re going to have to reset, whereas Ferrari came out with a car that was pretty good to start with. Ferrari has less work to do than Mercedes.”
In the upcoming 2023 season, Mercedes have a Herculean task ahead of them as since they have to prove to the world they can get back to their winning ways after the disappointing Formula 1 2022 campaign. Now, it only remains to be seen if they can deliver on their promise of clinching the top spot in the Championship standings again.
Related: “The test is going to happen,” Toto Wolff reaffirms Romain Grosjean’s hopes for Mercedes Test
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)