Team boss frustrated

Toto Wolff: “It’s always a knife-edge race”

Toto Wolff(Bild: AFP/APA/Andrej ISAKOVIC, Photoshop)

Only seventh (Hamilton) and eighth (Russell) were the result for Mercedes in qualifying for the Saudi Arabia GP. Far too little for Team Principal Toto Wolff: "We could even have been on the front row of the grid here. "This is very annoying. We know that we have a fast car, but it's always touch and go."

Hamilton and Russell are finding it difficult to set a fast lap with the W15 at the moment. The unstable rear end in particular is causing the drivers problems. It is noticeable that Russell is coping with it better than Hamilton this weekend. "Lewis is simply not getting the feedback from the car that he needs to gain full confidence in the car. There might be the odd lap where the necessary grip is there, but all in all, things just aren't running smoothly," says Wolff.

"I was really annoyed at the pit stop. It just annoys me to know that the car is good for the second or third fastest time and then you're on row 4."

Three-way battle behind Red Bull
If Red Bull were not the dominant force in the premier class, there would probably be a heated race between three teams, Wolff also believes: "I expect us, Ferrari and McLaren to be at the same level of performance. Our goal must be to get past them. Unfortunately, overtaking is not easy here. And at the World Championship opener we also thought that we would be faster in the Grand Prix. I hope things will go better here."

The race in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, starts at 6pm(HERE in the sportkrone.at ticker).