Mercedes boss highlights one area where Ferrari was exceptional at the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff lamented the Silver Arrows' struggles during the F1 2023 Azerbaijan GP qualifying session, where they managed P5 and P11 finishes with Lewis Hamilton leading George Russell. However, he praised the two Ferraris for their "outstanding" performance in the middle sector at the Baku City Circuit.

The German team looked off the pace from the first lap and struggled with break issues in the only Free Practice session of the weekend.

In qualifying, they were behind their rivals Ferrari and Aston Martin until Q2. However, in Q3, Hamilton managed to qualify ahead of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll for the main race on Sunday.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the Mercedes team boss said:

“It’s confusing with the times. But yeah, we’re struggling, it’s so tiny the margins behind the top three, so we’ve got to do the best out of it. We’re pretty matched with Leclerc and Verstappen in the first two corners and then at the end, but in the middle sector, the Ferraris are outstanding.

“I think we have it in a good window, it’s just generally the car is not stable for the drivers and hasn’t got enough load. And we didn’t put any upgrade on the car, that comes for Imola, so we just need to do the best that we have out of this package.”

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"The sprint format really rewards you if you land the starting setup in the right place" - Mercedes trackside engineer

Mercedes trackside engineer Andrew Shovlin stated that it is crucial for teams to get their setup right during the Sprint weekend given the lack of track time.

In a post-quali analysis as per F1.com, the British engineer said:

"The sprint format really rewards you if you land the starting setup in the right place, but we've been battling a few issues with ride and balance today that have made it difficult for the drivers. Lewis put together a solid lap in the final session to secure P5 for the Grand Prix. George unfortunately was the wrong side of a very tight bunch and didn't quite make the cut for Q3.

"We're looking forward to the challenge of the new format tomorrow. We get another go at Qualifying tomorrow morning, which sets the grid for the F1 Sprint, so we will work out how we can improve for that. The sprint should also be interesting as so far, we have seen almost no long run data from the teams so it will be interesting to gauge where we sit on race pace."

It will be fascinating to see if the Mercedes drivers can move forward in the two races this weekend and bring in some good points.