Mercedes miles off the pace: "We have an enormous challenge ahead of us"

Lewis Hamilton had to fight hard for just one single point in the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in a race that proved how far Mercedes are behind Red Bull and Ferrari. George Russell had a quiet race to finish fifth and move ahead of his teammate in the World Championship standings. Engineer Andrew Shovlin admits the struggles that Mercedes are experiencing. 

Jeddah Circuit

The Jeddah track is the fastest street circuit that Formula 1visits. Average speeds in qualifying are over 250 km/h with drivers climbing above 310 km/h on three separate occasions during a single push lap. Over 80% of the lap is spent at full throttle and many of the corners can be taken flat-out given the soft angle. In Bahrain, straight line speed already looked alarming but Jeddah really highlighted the problem. 

"It's been a tough weekend and we need to go back and regroup ahead of Melbourne. The circuit here has been more difficult for us than Bahrain and we're under no illusions where we stand at the moment but we need to remain focused and effective. We have an enormous challenge ahead of us, but over the last eight years the team has been able to get on top of every performance issue that we have faced," Shovlin said in the Mercedes press report.

"We've been able to do that because we have so many talented and dedicated people in the team both in Brackley and Brixworth. We certainly have our work cut out over the next weeks and months but we are more determined than ever to get ourselves back fighting at the front," he concluded.