Valtteri Bottas is at a loss for words, and he is not alone. There is concern across the entire Mercedes camp about why the W12 isn't performing as it should, but it's not yet clear exactly where the problem lies.
"It was very difficult for us today, there was a real lack of pace," Bottas is quoted as saying after his sixteenth place by Motorsport-Magazin. Does the Finn have an explanation for Mercedes' difficult first day? "It feels like it's just the grip. The balance is not that far off. Okay, the car is a bit unpredictable, but it just feels like grip is missing. It's sliding around."
There is work to be done for the engineers of the German formation, because it is clear that things have to improve a lot. "It's going to be a long night. The longrun was maybe a bit better, but it still lacks pace. That's very clear. There's something fundamentally wrong. We have to find out what it is," Bottas said.
For Bottas a bad result in Azerbaijan is disastrous for his chances in the world championship. The gap to Max Verstappen is already substantial and must not increase too far, or yet another title challenge will fall away.