The start of the 2022 Formula 1 season has been a blow for the Mercedes team, in fact the last race at Imola, where Lewis Hamilton finished 13th and was lapped by Max Verstappen, was a great example of this.
At the same time, the German team admitted that they still do not fully understand the exact reasons for their poor performance and therefore do not yet have a solution to their problems.
Speaking about it, Nico Rosberg, a former Mercedes driver who enjoyed the star team’s early years of success until 2016, the season in which he became F1 world champion after beating Hamilton and retiring by surprise, said that he saw this situation as a very serious threat also for the next 2023 season.
“It’s hard to be optimistic as they themselves admit this season’s title fight is over,” Rosberg said on Sky ‘s broadcast. “And on top of that, there is a risk that the next campaign will also be difficult, because the development of the 2023 cars should already be underway, and if they go the wrong way, they will continue to go astray next year.
“So at the moment I think it’s a very dangerous situation for Mercedes , they are under enormous pressure as they urgently need to address the issue and find a solution, not just for this year but for next year as well.”
The former F1 driver also commented on footage from Imola which showed Toto Wolff yelling effusively in the Mercedes garage with Hamilton in front. Although after seeing the sequence, none of those involved wanted to explain what the heated conversation was about.
“Of course, this situation will also affect the relationship between Hamilton and the team. They have a very strong bond, but Lewis loves to get involved in the engineering business more than other drivers, and Toto Wolf needs to keep everything under control. right now”.
“Of course, he is a team leader with many qualities and he will manage to control everything, but I think we will see many more tense moments in their relationship [from here on],” Nico Rosberg said of his former Mercedes teammate and his former boss.
After the first four races of the season, George Russell is in fourth position in the drivers’ championship, 32 points behind the leader (Charles Leclerc), while his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, is 58 points behind and is in seventh position .
As for the team, the situation is slightly higher than the sensations of Mercedes, since they have managed to take advantage of all their opportunities and add a total of 77 units, 47 less than Ferrari, who currently leads the constructors’ classification ahead of Red Bull and the team of silver arrows.
