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Many may describe Mercedes AMG’s stranglehold over Formula One for the past five seasons as “so boring”. It is certainly what Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel thinks, having said those exact words following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Though, after setting a record for consecutive one-two finishes in the first four races of a new season – with Valtteri Bottas claiming his second win of 2019 ahead of the reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton – the season so far has been more about the Silver Arrows’ rivals losing, rather than the Brackley outfit dominating.
Following a pre-season which saw Ferrari lay down the gauntlet through their domination during testing, the Scuderia have been toothless in the first four races.
Star recruit Charles Leclerc’s arrival in Bahrain was unfortunately spoiled by Ferrari unreliability, after such a peerless weekend which saw the 21-year-old fastest in practice and on pole position. Vettel’s own mistake cost him any chance of a win.
Everywhere else though, Ferrari have either attributed their losses to struggling with the balance of their SF90-H, or simply not pulling the trigger and being aggressive on the pit-wall – as was seen in Baku, when Leclerc was left out too long in the first stint.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (Clive Mason/Getty Images)
As a result, Ferrari sit 74 points adrift in the constructors’ championship at the conclusion of the flyaway events, while Vettel and Leclerc respectively sit 35 and 40 points in arrears of championship leader Bottas.
“Until they start performing at the level we are at, then this is how it’s going to be,” Hamilton said of his rivals following the race in Baku.
And Mercedes AMG, through these four race wins, have shown they are still the class of the field.
Such is their confidence that at the Chinese Grand Prix they completed – and perfectly, too – a double pit-stop with Hamilton and Bottas having pitted back-to-back with no hiccups or dramas.
Rarely over the past five years have the Silver Arrows made major strategic blunders or had significant errors in their pit-stops, something that Ferrari have suffered from plenty. This only highlights the importance of the team as a collective, as while Leclerc can achieve a perfect weekend behind the wheel, the team’s efforts can easily undo all that.
In 2017, upon winning their fourth straight set of championships, Mercedes statistically had a greater wins percentage across a four-year period than Red Bull in their dominant era, beat McLaren’s stats during the height of Ayrton Senna’s career, and toppled Ferrari’s records set by Michael Schumacher and co.
So until Ferrari can emulate their silver competitors in terms of confidence in winning and have it run through the entire team, they are not going to be on the level Hamilton says his team are on.
That is the hallmark of a great team and, indeed, the art of winning in Formula One.
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