Lewis Hamilton and George Russell alarmed by Mercedes weak point

Despite Mercedes' optimistic expectations for the Sakhir International Circuit, the team only managed to secure P5 and P7 finishes.

Toto Wolff highlighted that during the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Mercedes power unit compromised George Russell and Lewis Hamilton’s performance by approximately half a second per lap.

Despite Mercedes’ optimistic expectations for the Sakhir International Circuit, the team only managed to secure P5 and P7 finishes.

Initially, Mercedes showed promise with Russell advancing from his P3 grid position to second, surpassing Charles Leclerc.

However, Russell encountered engine cooling issues in traffic, causing him to lose ground to Sergio Perez and both Ferrari cars.

READ: Tensions show at Ferrari amid Charles Leclerc comment

Hamilton, starting from ninth on the grid, faced his own challenges, only managing to climb to seventh after overtaking Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri.

Moreover, he grappled with a broken seat for more than half of the race.

Wolff attributed Russell’s performance decline to power unit issues, stating, “From then on, if you switch 0.3-4s of power unit performance off, then you have to lift-and-coast on top.”

He estimated the overall impact to be “five or six tenths of a second” that the team couldn’t utilize, making the race less enjoyable.

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“Of greater concern to the Silver Arrows was the unexpected nature of the problem, given their reliable performance in pre-season testing and practice sessions.

Wolff noted that the team appeared solid during testing and practice, but encountered multiple issues on race day.

Despite a solid start on race day, Mercedes had to unexpectedly cool the engine more than planned.

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This issue affected not only Mercedes but also one of their customer teams, Williams, while the other two teams remained unaffected.

With the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix approaching in less than a week, Mercedes faces a tight schedule to address the underlying issue.

They must swiftly diagnose and resolve the problem before racing resumes at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the fourth time in succession on a Saturday.