"An exercise in humility" - Mercedes finds it painful to miss out on 'fun games' in the front

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has been dining on the humble pie after the 2022 Saudi Arabian GP.

Having fallen behind the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull in the first two races of the 2022 season, Wolff called their current ordeal an 'exercise in humility' during a post-race interview. The Austrian said:

"We have had the luxury of being right in the middle of those fun games for the last eight years. Actually luxury is the wrong word. We were right in the middle of those fun games in the front, and talking as a Formula 1 stakeholder we're benefiting from a great show that is really spectacular to look at."

He also said:

"On the other side, it is extremely painful to not be part of those fun games by quite a chunk of lap time deficit. We're not going to rest until we are back in the mix. It is no fun at all and an exercise in humility. It's going to make us stronger even though it's not fun right now."

The Silver Arrows had won last year's inaugural race with Lewis Hamilton, with then-teammate Valtteri Bottas rounding off the podium places. Four months later, Mercedes could only manage a P5 and P10 finish for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, respectively.

For Hamilton, the race was a salvage mission after he failed to get out of Q1 for the first time in five years and started from P15 on the grid after Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher dropped out of the Grand Prix.

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"His pace on the hard tires was positive" - Mercedes boss on Lewis Hamilton's first stint in Saudi Arabian GP

Lewis Hamilton was a world away from his usual standards throughout the 2022 F1 Saudi Arabian GP race weekend.

On a weekend that saw him pass Michael Schumacher's record of the most race starts with a single F1 team, Hamilton had his worst weekend since joining Mercedes.

The Mercedes driver was even heard asking if there was a point to go along with his P10 finish. The last time he finished in that position was with McLaren in the 2012 Korean GP.

However, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff found some positives in his race, especially the first stint. Hamilton was one of two drivers to start on the white-walled hard tires and the Briton ran a long stint, climbing to P6. He was, however, handicapped by the pit lane closing and a VSC deployment when Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso both suffered power failures and stopped near the pit entry.

Wolff recounted the incident by saying:

"The encouraging side is that his pace on the hard was positive. We couldn't tell if it was fast but it was positive. Alonso slowed down during the lap, Ricciardo broke down in the entry and we told him to come in but there was a double yellow with one car slowing down and one stationary so it was a confusing situation. He passed by and slowed down because of the confusion which made us come out behind [Kevin] Magnussen, then it's game over."

Mercedes have a fortnight to get their affairs in order before heading off to Albert Park in Melbourne for the 2022 F1 Australian GP.