Martin Brundle has summed up Mercedes’ woes in a brutal manner by likening them to a “midfield car” after watching Max Verstappen breeze past George Russell in the middle of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Mercedes are in a sticky situation for the 2023 season with Lewis Hamilton and Russell unable to challenge at the front of the grid once again.
They’ve seemingly fallen even further behind Red Bull this season with Hamilton finishing nearly a second behind Verstappen at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
Toto Wolff has admitted that Mercedes will begin scrapping the ‘zeropod’ concept of their car with changes expected to be visible on the bodywork in a few months.
For now, both drivers are in a battle with Aston Martin and Ferrari in their attempts to stay in the championship fight.
But their pace compared to the Red Bull was clear for all to see after the Safety Car at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
All drivers had just pitted for fresh hard tyres ahead of the restart with Verstappen running behind Russell.
And once he was able to open his rear wing, Verstappen made light work of passing the young Brit in the second to last DRS zone.
The Dutchman ended up breezing past Russell with ease and was even able to hold his rival off down the pit straight despite the Mercedes car having DRS to chase him back down.
Sky Sports commentator David Croft felt the move “looked like F1 against F2 given the pace difference between the two cars”.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
