Mercedes received a glimmer of hope during Q2 when Hamilton achieved third place, trailing behind the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. At that moment, the #44 car was only slightly slower than the top time by a tenth and a bit.
However, when they pushed their limits to the maximum, the reality hit hard. Hamilton ended up in seventh place and Russell in ninth, with their best efforts falling half a second short of Verstappen’s pole-position time.
To make matters worse, both McLarens and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin will start ahead of them, highlighting the superiority of the customers over the suppliers.
Naturally, this result was disappointing for Wolff, who summarized, “Seventh place, ninth place is not pleasant. If there is one positive aspect, it’s that Suzuka was one of our worst tracks last year. And we are only a tenth away from a solid position at the front. We will take that as a small victory.”
Wolff acknowledged the challenges they face with the W15, which has proven to be difficult for the former World Champions to handle under the current F1 rules. However, he refrained from assigning blame, stating, “I don’t believe our car was terrible. We tried something completely new, which brought us much closer to the top. In fact, we are now half as close to McLaren as we were last year. That is a positive aspect.”
He further added, “You can always do the math: One-tenth and you’re on the second row of the grid. Is that satisfactory or not? I’m not sure. Overall, it is a disappointing result. However, I can find some positivity in our performance.”
Unfortunately, when discussing race pace and their position compared to other teams ahead of Sunday’s 35th Grand Prix at Suzuka, Wolff admitted, “We are exactly where we are. Unfortunately, there isn’t much difference between the teams.”
He predicted, “Ferrari had the strongest long run. I expect Leclerc to make significant progress. On the other hand, McLaren didn’t perform well in their long runs, and Alonso had a subpar long run. However, overtaking is challenging. The real action will take place within the pack.”
After the session, where Hamilton has emerged victorious on five occasions, he expressed his thoughts on his final Qualifying as a Mercedes driver at Suzuka. He stated, “Qualifying was generally a very positive session. We have made notable enhancements to the car and its stability throughout the weekend so far.
“I felt much more content in the car compared to earlier this year, although there are areas that still require improvement. Nonetheless, we have taken steps in the right direction. When we last raced here six months ago, we were more than a second behind, but we have managed to narrow that gap to the front and our closest rivals.
“Obviously, I was hoping for better results and P7 is not satisfactory. However, we acknowledge that our car is a work in progress,” Hamilton conveyed in the Mercedes Qualifying report.
Regarding the upcoming Grand Prix on Sunday, Hamilton commented, “The race will heavily revolve around tire degradation. Our long-run pace seemed comparable to others during Friday’s practice, so we will see if that holds true on Sunday. I anticipate a very close competition tomorrow, and I hope we can maximize all the contributing factors and secure valuable points.”
In the other Mercedes car, Russell fell short of his teammate by a quarter of a second, resulting in him starting a few rows back in the midst of the pack on Sunday. He summarized, “The competition out there between ourselves, McLaren, Ferrari, and Aston Martin was incredibly tight.
“After FP3, we knew there would only be a small margin of one or two tenths between all those cars, and that’s exactly what happened. If you didn’t deliver a great lap, you would end up in P9, which is what happened to me today. I made a mistake on my final lap, and it’s a bit disappointing, but that’s just how it goes sometimes.
“However, this is not the most challenging circuit to overtake on, and with tire degradation and different strategies, we can hopefully make progress tomorrow. A lot can certainly unfold.
“We have started this season with several high-speed tracks, and we are aware that this is where our car’s weakness lies. We knew this weekend wouldn’t showcase our best performance.
“It is beneficial that we are exposing these weaknesses as it provides us with a better understanding of the foundation we are building upon and improving. It establishes a clear path for us to enhance,” Russell added.
And significant improvements are necessary if they aspire to challenge for a podium finish, let alone claim victory. At present, Mercedes appears to be lacking direction in terms of their overall package. However, only time will reveal if Wolff’s aforementioned statement – “Nevertheless, I see a tendency that what we tried worked” – will prove to be accurate.