Mercedes ‘punching above our weight’ with finish at Bahrain GP, admits Toto Wolff

Mercedes continued to look slightly off the pace but recorded battling third and fourth-placed finishes at the season-opening Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton finished third at the Bahrain Grand Prix, one place ahead of teammate George Russell (Getty Images)

Toto Wolff has described Mercedes’ opening race result in Bahrain as “fantastic” and said that the team are “punching above their weight” at the start of the 2022 F1 season.

Lewis Hamilton capitalised on the retirement of both Red Bull drivers to finish on the bottom step of the podium, closely followed by new teammate George Russell, who took fourth in his first race as a permanent member of the German team.

Despite a clear lack of speed compared to the fastest cars on the grid, it represented a good start for Mercedes, who have struggled to adjust after aerodynamic regulations were overhauled during the offseason.

Having established dominance over the rest of the grid during a period of eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships, all of the indications are that Wolff’s unit will struggle to again retain that prize unless significant tweaks can be made.

But that does not mean that the Mercedes team principal was not pleased by Hamilton and Russell’s efforts at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

“You can say how you manage expectations – if we would have come in last year third and fourth, it would have been very frustrating,” Wolff told Sky Sports after Charles Leclerc’s victory at the Bahrain International Circuit.

“But this year, I think we are punching above our weight class. With the Red Bulls DNF-ing, third and fourth is a fantastic result.”

A resurgent Ferrari’s first one-two in three years suggests that the Italian team are ready to come to the title party after Max Verstappen and Hamilton duelled in 2021.

The Saudi Arabia Grand Prix is next up after a shift of position in the F1 calendar, as the sport remains in the Middle East.

Hamilton took the win at the Jeddah circuit in December and Mercedes will hope to get closer to the early season pace-setters, particularly in qualifying, but Wolff has suggested that he does not feel they will be able to contend this weekend.

“If you look at the pecking order [in Bahrain] it seems a very long shot to even think about being in contention for any of the championships,” he said.

“Realistically when you are third on the road you can’t think about winning it.”