Despite having high hopes for the Sakhir International Circuit, Mercedes could only manage fifth and seventh place finishes. Toto Wolff pointed out that the Mercedes power unit hindered the performance of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton by approximately half a second per lap during the Bahrain Grand Prix. Despite their initial optimism, Mercedes had to settle for P5 and P7 finishes. At the beginning of the race, Russell showed promise by advancing from his third place grid position to second, overtaking Charles Leclerc. However, he faced engine cooling issues while in traffic, causing him to lose ground to Sergio Perez and the Ferrari cars. Hamilton, starting from ninth on the grid, also encountered challenges and could only climb to seventh place after overtaking Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri. Additionally, he had to deal with a broken seat for more than half of the race. Wolff attributed Russell’s decline in performance to power unit problems, stating that when a significant amount of power unit performance is lost, it becomes necessary to lift-and-coast. He estimated that this issue cost the team around five or six tenths of a second, making the race less enjoyable. The unexpected nature of the problem was a cause for concern for the Mercedes team, considering their reliable performance during pre-season testing and practice sessions. Despite a strong start on race day, Mercedes had to cool the engine more than planned, which affected not only their own team but also their customer team, Williams. The other two teams, however, were not affected. With the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix just a week away, Mercedes is under pressure to quickly address the underlying issue and find a solution before the race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Saturday.
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