Mercedes knows it is 'not in a good position' in Azerbaijan

Mercedes hoped after the Spanish Grand Prix that it would creep closer to Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, but the race weekend in Monaco made it painfully clear that this was not the case. The first day of racing in Baku did not go as hoped either, although the Germans remain confident.

Hamilton in particular had problems with his car in Azerbaijan. After some adjustments to his car, he put in a disappointing second free practice, in which he did not even finish in the top ten. George Russell did twice, but he too saw the gap between Ferrari and Red Bull Racing grow far.

"Our straight-line speed also isn't great but some of that will be due to us hitting the ground on the straights," analyzed Andrew Shovlin in the race stable's press release. "We did have some new parts on the car today, so we'll review whether those were contributing to our issues."

However, there is a rush for that, as on Saturday afternoon Mercedes already has to manage to set a good qualifying session. "Overall, we're not in a good position and it's one where we need to be looking for some fundamental improvements rather than a case of fine-tuning," the Mercedes top executive said.