"Mercedes seem to be all at sea" after struggles during Bahrain qualifying

Mercedes struggled with porpoising more than most during pre-season testing, and those issues continued to exist on Friday practice. Through Saturday, the winners of the last eight Constructors World Championship seemed to improve but in qualifying, they were some distance away from Ferrari and Red Bull Racing. 

There was no sand

In years gone by, Mercedes have suddenly improved when the green flag dropped in Q2. However, any improvement wasn't significant enough this time around. 1996 Formula 1 World Champion Damon Hill gave his thoughts on the qualifying session in a conversation with Sky Sports. The former Williams driver described Mercedes as "all at sea" in his analysis. 

"Mercedes, by their own standards, seem to be all at sea, but I'm sure they have development to come," Hill said. Hamilton qualified in fifth place, behind both drivers from Ferrari and Red Bull. In his first qualifying session as a full-time Mercedes driver, Russell made a mistake at turn one on his last lap meaning he couldn't improve on a P9 time. 

Close field

Hill highlighted how much the Ferrari engine had improved during the winter break. Haas and Alfa Romeo, who also use a Ferrari engine, performed well during the session. On his return to the sport, Kevin Magnussen will start from P7. 

"It is tight throughout the field, given the enormity of the changes, there's not someone a second a lap quicker and everyone has to catch up because they found a loophole. It looks really good and really competitive. The Ferrari power unit looks very strong. It's helping the Alfa with Bottas up there, and Magnussen. The engine has to be useful, and the aerodynamics they're using seems to be going down the right road," Hill added.