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George Russell, British driver, drove the Mercedes AMG F1 W15 during the Formula 1 World Championship, Round 2, Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on March 8, 2024. The head of the Mercedes Formula 1 team, Toto Wolff, acknowledged that the team is not competitive against Red Bull and Ferrari in this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Mercedes entered the second round of the season with optimism after solving the engine cooling issues that hampered their performance in Bahrain. Despite the improvements to the car, Lewis Hamilton expressed lack of confidence in the rear of the W15 in Jeddah. In the final practice session, Hamilton tried a higher downforce setup to determine its effectiveness in qualifying. Wolff explained that they would discuss and decide on the final setup in the engineering meeting. Hamilton has not finished above eighth place so far this weekend, with his teammate George Russell outperforming him in FP3 by finishing fourth. However, Wolff believes that the best possible result for Mercedes will be as the third fastest team. He admitted that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is in a league of his own based on his race simulation pace. Wolff mentioned that Sergio Perez, followed by the Ferraris, are also strong competitors, with McLaren and Aston Martin being teams close to Mercedes. Hamilton finished first ahead of his fellow British driver Oliver Bearman, who is making his Formula 1 debut for Ferrari in place of the ill Carlos Sainz. Bearman, 18, recorded the tenth fastest time, just seven tenths behind Charles Leclerc. Wolff expressed admiration for the competitiveness of the younger drivers and mentioned that Bearman, coming from Formula 2, has adapted well to the Ferrari SF-24 car. However, Wolff speculated that Bearman may not have used the full potential of the engine during the final race. Bearman, who is a partner of Mercedes prospect Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Prema, was originally scheduled to start on pole position for the Formula 2 feature race before being called up for his F1 debut.
