© Wolfgang Wilhelm for Mercedes-Benz AG
By Carol M. Creasey
After an unexpected second place finish in Australia, Lewis Hamilton was buoyed up to race again in Baku, even embracing the new sprint format, which at the moment seems to be causing dissension amongst the fans.
During the April F1 break fans have been impatient to get back to racing, and various sources have claimed that Mercedes are now getting to grips with their car, and finding out how they can improve it. Mercedes also announced that James Allison had returned as technical director, swapping duties with Mike Elliot.
In Baku, after Lewis qualified 5th and George 11th for Sunday’s race, the fair weather fans were berating Mercedes once again. It beggars belief to me that they would imagine that all of a sudden the car will be leading the field. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and some of these armchair critics need to be patient, the drivers have to be, and not lose faith in Mercedes. It is not the team’s fault that the regulations were changed to disadvantage Mercedes, and a word of caution here for the future: even when they do get on top of the car, its never going to win at all circuits, because some tracks obviously suit certain cars more than others.
Back to Baku, Russell fared better in the sprint shootout, claiming 4th, Lewis claimed 6th. The most exciting part of the sprint race was the start when Russell, who was next to Verstappen on the grid, passed the Dutch driver, but there was contact which caused damage to the Red Bull. Later Verstappen got the pass back. Perez won the sprint race with Leclerc 2nd and Verstappen 3rd.
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Afterwards Verstappen had an altercation with Russell who tried to explain he had no grip, but Verstappen gave an expletive laden rant at him, which was caught on video, and as he walked away, he implied in a threatening way that he would get him back next time. The fallout from this incident dominated the news rather than the results of the race, especially as Verstappen himself has been employing hard racing against other drivers for many years, but appeared to be very angry when it happened to him. Damon Hill referred to his attitude as “sulking”. Russell finished 4th and Lewis 7th in the sprint, after stating that he had been stuck in a drs train with overtaking impossible.
On Sunday there was much less drama, Verstappen and Perez both overtook Leclerc, who had started from pole. Lewis made a good start and maintained his 5th position, but then went in for fresh tyres just before a safety car was deployed. This put him down to 11th when others, including his team-mate got a free pit stop. This elevated Russell temporarily to 5th. When the Safety Car came in, Lewis got his elbows out. With a succession of overtakes he got himself past several cars, and was behind Russell, who was running in 8th. Lewis then overtook his team-mate, and then Stroll to claim 6th place. He tried unsuccessfully to overtake Sainz for 5th, and so he ultimately had to settle for P6. Perez was undoubtedly the star of the weekend, having won both races, Verstappen was 2nd and Leclerc was 3rd. Alonso was 4th, and Russell was 8th. Perez also got driver of the day, richly deserved.
Now, in Miami, Mercedes hopes to return to form, and after FP1 where George and Lewis topped the timesheets, there appears to be some reason for optimism. In the meantime I hope fans will get behind the team and show some support. Everyone including Lewis is working hard at the factory, and they need their fans to keep the faith.
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