Mercedes: 'Gaps to Ferrari and Red Bull are still worryingly large'

Mercedes hoped prior to the season that it could once again compete for the world title in 2022, but that is not yet the case. In a press release from the German racing team, Andrew Shovlin states that the team recognizes the gap, although he is keen to make up the difference this race year.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell once again struggled in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. Both men still managed to reach Q3, but could not play a major role in it. With fifth and sixth positions respectively, they kept their chances for the race alive.

However, Shovlin knows that Mercedes will have to get lucky to reach the podium. "The gaps to Ferrari and Red Bull are still worryingly large but not a surprise to us," the Mercedes chief let it be known. "We've known since Bahrain that we have a mountain to climb this year and the team is getting stuck into that challenge."

He stated that Mercedes did make some improvements to the car during the night, making it faster on the track. However, more than the current performance is not in the car according to Shovlin. The team therefore faces an interesting challenge on Sunday morning.