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🇺🇸 F1 2022 R5: When we were younger and better

A Formula 1 team with one driver finishing in the top five in all five races so far, and the other driver finishing in the points four races out of five (with one podium) wouldn’t normally be so disappointed.



Unless that team is Mercedes, a team that has run consistently high standards and achievements for almost a decade. Constructors’ Champions eight times in a row in this era, winning every team’s Championship since 2014, and under powerhouse star driver Lewis Hamilton, have won most of the Driver’s Championships, losing out to teammate Nico Rosberg in 2016 and Red Bull rival Max Verstappen last time out. 

The team has not reacted well to the change in regulations in 2022, and there was a mini preview of this in 2021, with a car designed to be leading from the front, and often overheating when following. However, there was a lot of admiration and chat from F1 fans when the team revealed that they had not spent either of the development tokens they were allowed to in 2021.

Throw forward to 2022, and the new order of Ferrari and Red Bull competing at the front and a Mercedes team with two quality drivers looking a bit confused at their new place in the world - so confused in fact, that Hamilton was unclear whether 10th place gets you a point as he did in Saudi Arabia. It was the second time he finished in tenth to score a solitary point since Korea 2012. 

  
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The seven-time champion has had at least two podiums in the first five races in every year he’s been in F1 - except this one, and 2009. And he clearly wasn’t happy with his team, talking on the radio about his strategy which saw his teammate lurking behind him after a safety car restart on fresher, softer tyres and being somewhat uncertain about the best path forward.

It took a few laps for Russell to overtake Hamilton, gave the place back, and then overtook him again to keep that top-five streak alive. For Hamilton, meanwhile, he came out swinging this week, sending out the message that he wasn’t going anywhere, but after another unhappy performance, and now that he has fallen 23 points behind Russell, and finished behind 80% of the time, is it still as fun?

Mercedes may go on to solve the porpoising issue they’re experiencing at high-speeds, and even if they don’t, they could go on to win a race (maybe through the slow-speed corners in Monaco?) but if you had to guess which driver would take that top step, you’d probably tip George Russell to win his first race, rather than all-time leader Hamilton to add to his 103 victories. 


And on the subject of wins, this is Mercedes’ longest winless streak in this era. They suffered nine consecutive races in 2013 after taking the top step of the podium after Hungary that year, all the way to the start of their dominance in Australia 2014. The team last won in the red-flag filled war that was Jeddah, and Miami made it six winless races in a row. 

On the other side to Hamilton is George Russell, who has been able to finish in the top five in all five races, extending that streak in Florida. The Brit is actually ahead of Carlos Sainz, standing fourth overall and adapting quickly to his new outfit.

Extending that streak is even more impressive considering he qualified in 12th overall. He got a bit of luck with both Aston Martins turning their fuel into slushies and having to start from the pits, but even with the green cars out the way, he had to drive thoughtfully on the track and not push as much as he might have wanted. It was also interesting in the levels of confidence both drivers have in their cars and teams at the moment. While at full speed, Russell was happy to converse with his garage, advising on the strategy and not rushing towards the pits, ultimately cashing in with a cheap stop under the Virtual Safety Car after a 41-lap long stint on his hard tyres.

With Russell happy to cruise around until Pierre Gasly’s and Lando Norris’ collision, compare that to Hamilton when the VSC and ultimately, the full Safety Car came out.

Hamilton is normally brilliantly decisive when these incidents occur, able to strategise and suggest the best course of action to his engineering crew while driving his car at 200mph. But this felt very different, a driver not feeling sufficiently confident to make a decision he’s made maybe dozens of times before, ultimately staying out to try and retain track position and finishing where he started in sixth. 

Russell has reasons to also be cheerful with his practice performance, which gave some people hope for a third team to enter the leaders’ battle after topping the FP2 standings, but then more setup changes meant that he was unable to capitalise on that in FP3 or qualifying, showing that Mercedes can compete under certain conditions and it’s consistency, rather than ability that is holding them back.

Formula 1 moves back to Europe after this Super Bowl-esque race in Florida, with its annual lower-key trip to Barcelona before a back-to-back down the road in Monaco. Ferrari and Charles Leclerc remain at the top, with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull chipping away at the Monegasque driver’s lead seven or eight points at a time as the season really gets into full swing, but despite hints in Miami, it doesn’t look like there will be a three-team battle for the lead just yet.

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