Why Mercedes feels its rapid F1 progress is still not good enough

After rival Aston Martin emerged as Red Bull’s main threat in the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, it was Mercedes that took the challenge to F1’s current pace-setter in Melbourne. 

George Russell secured a spot on the front row and led the early stages ahead of the first safety car period, while Lewis Hamilton then briefly took over at the front before Max Verstappen blasted past on his way to victory. 

But while Red Bull remains a clear step in front right now, Hamilton’s ability to hold off Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin for the duration was clear evidence of promise and progress for the Brackley-based squad. 

The form of the weekend showed the gains that Mercedes has made with its W14, with Russell in particular feeling that he is now at one with how the car is performing. 

“I felt like Saudi was probably on par with my best race weekend in F1, along with probably Brazil last year,” he said. “And again this weekend [in Australia], I feel really comfortable in the car.  

“The team are giving me the right tools and we get the set up in the right window week in, week out. We’re ticking all the boxes. I feel like there’s nothing really more that we can be doing.” 

But while this progression bodes well for Mercedes battling for podium finishes from here on in, equally it is mindful of two aspects about its Australian GP form. 

The first is that the Melbourne layout, and especially it being a front-limited circuit where tyre degradation is not a big issue, perhaps favoured it over its closest opposition. 

It was clear in Bahrain how much stronger the Aston Martin AMR23 is at high-deg rear limited venues compared to the W14 that is lacking rear downforce. 

Asked about whether the Melbourne surface and layout flattered Mercedes, team boss Toto Wolff admitted: “I think definitely it was an advantage for us. Our car lacks a little bit of performance in the rear end.  

“I think that’s making us look a little bit better than we should be. But we know where the weaknesses are, and we just need to sort them out.” 

The other critical factor about its Australian result is that while second is encouraging following its difficult start to the year, rival Red Bull remains a huge chunk ahead. 

Verstappen was clearly biding him time early in the race after being dropped to third, and it was the world champion’s eye-opening DRS…