Despite the disappointing season opener in Bahrain, Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff did not convert the penalty of stepping up to the plate
Mercedes may have fallen short of their own expectations in sporting terms at the 2022 Formula One season opener in Bahrain, but in terms of sportsmanship the team showed their best side. For both Lewis Hamilton and team boss Toto Wolff offered fair congratulations to their immediate opponents after the race.
And that despite the fact that all Wolff had to do in his media round on Sunday evening was convert the penalty that was laid on him by the journalists connected via Zoom. Indeed, the Mercedes team boss was asked if Red Bull’s double retirement was “karma” after the controversial 2021 World Championship finale in Abu Dhabi, following P3/4 for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
“I wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” Wolff waved it off. “It was certainly a brutal race for them.” However, he puts it into perspective: “The importance of the race in Abu Dhabi was certainly greater than the importance of the 2022 season opener. “
Even earlier, Hamilton had congratulated Ferrari on their one-two win in Bahrain: “I’m so happy they’re doing so well again. They are an epic, a historic team. It’s great to see Carlos and Charles up there. To hear their national anthem, the energy that this team brings, it’s really nice.”
“I know they’ve had a difficult year, but they haven’t given up. It’s great to have them back,” Hamilton said. “I just hope we can take them on sooner or later. I had a duel with Carlos once, but it only lasted five laps. Then they were up and away. “
In the FIA press conference he was then also asked if Red Bull’s double retirement was “karma” for Abu Dhabi 2021. His answer: “I don’t have an answer to that. I am only concentrating on our tasks. Of course, it was bad luck for them today. But I prefer to focus on the positive.”
For example, that Mercedes has 27 points on the World Championship account after the first race and Red Bull zero. But: “It’s still too early to look at the World Championship standings,” Wolff thinks. “When I look at the balance of power at the moment, it is still very far away to even think that we could fight for one of the two titles.”
“But if I look at Bahrain as a single race weekend, we scored the maximum points possible. We have to build on that and do it every weekend. At the moment we are thinking race by race. Because realistically, if you’re third best on the track, you can’t think about winning,” says Wolff.