F1: Mercedes Clearly Superior; Vasseur Speaks Out

George Russell secured pole position in Baku, clearly outpacing his rivals: in his Mercedes, he posted a time eight-tenths of a second faster than Charles Leclerc, who qualified second in the official practice sessions.

A gap of this magnitude hasn’t been seen since 2023 and signals that the Silver Arrows’ cars are clearly superior to the competition. When asked by Sky about the situation, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur responded: “How is it possible that Mercedes hasn’t been identified as having the best engine on the grid? I don’t know—ask the FIA; I’d probably give you a different answer.”

“It does seem strange, actually. It’s not just about the engine, but also about aerodynamic drag, and I think Verstappen had a battery issue—I don’t know if it was on that lap or not. If we look at this qualifying session, Mercedes certainly seems too strong. But we’ll definitely fight and push until the end, and the race is always a little different.”

Lewis Hamilton commented on his qualifying session as follows: “It was a pretty bad qualifying session, once again. And not because we didn’t try. Q1 and Q2 were pretty okay—or at least, Q1 was decent; in Q2 we struggled more. We couldn’t compete with Mercedes; they’re simply much faster than us on the straights. They did a great job.”