After the second race of the F1 2024 season, it has become more clear that Mercedes will likely be duking it out with McLaren for the third fastest team on track; as Ferrari continue to hunt down Red Bull.
Two things could be pulled away from Mercedes' showing at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. First is that George Russell is definitely deemed the preferential driver number one. We could verify this based on the fact that Russell has been outperforming his counterpart Lewis Hamilton, and that he was given the preferred strategy when the safety car was deployed.
Now secondly, this may sound like Mercedes is giving the boot to Hamilton, but this could actually go hand and hand with what the decorated driver could offer to Ferrari in 2025. Hamilton in Jeddah displayed that he still has some driving talent left in the tank. After a bad strategy call from Mercedes, Hamilton was forced to hold off McLaren driver Oscar Piastri while on old medium tires.
Mercedes and McLaren Will Battle for Third
Whether it be the lack of pace from the McLaren or impatience of Piastri, Hamilton was able to fend off the Australian mightily until he eventually had to give up position heading into the pits. Hamilton only really lost one position during the race and it was due to the wrong pit call. This is a good sign for Ferrari, because if Hamilton could still extract the maximum from an underdeveloped car, he definitely could perform in a hopefully Red Bull challenging Ferrari next year.
This is all well and good for Ferrari, but Mercedes does have a bit of work to do. One in filling the seat of Hamilton. And two of getting car development back on the right track in creating a drivable and competitive F1 car. Mercedes look to be lacking in power similar to McLaren F1, as both teams will be battling it out for third place in the constructors most likely.
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