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Mercedes' Toto Wolff claims teams are always on the "knife's edge" of the cost cap imposed by the FIA. Mick Schumacher crashed out of Q2 of the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, escaping major injuries - but destroying his car in the process.
The qualifying session for the second edition of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was one full of drama and surprises. With Lewis Hamilton failing to get into Q2 for the first time since Brazil 2017, many considered this lack of performance as the highlight of the event.
However, Haas driver Mick Schumacher crashed out in the first half of Q2, putting his car in the barriers through the fast section of esses in sector one. While teams like Mercedes and Ferrari have little to worry about monetarily, smaller teams like Haas suffer immensely when one of their cars is damaged.
Speaking to the media after the event, the team boss spoke about the effects of the cost cap set in place by the FIA. He said:
"You can say that the crash that Mick had falls into the category of 'big shunts' and there is an allowance in the cost cap that - if you need to build a new chassis - the cost cap can be adjusted for you. But F1 is dangerous and city circuits are the spectacular ones and drivers need to take more risks and you are always on the knife's edge".
Mercedes had disappointing qualifying in Jeddah despite trimmed rear wing
The team had a disappointing outing in Bahrain, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell having qualified P16 and P6 respectively on the grid. Having been on two radically different setups, Hamilton and Russell fared very differently, with the former Williams driver outclassing his teammate for the first time in his career.
Mercedes trimmed the rear wings of their W13s after it allegedly caused a straight-line speed deficit in the opening race in Bahrain. Many suspected the problem to be with the team's power unit, but the team claims all issues were due to the aerodynamic setup in Sakhir.
Speaking about his failure to get into Q2, Lewis Hamilton said:
“I struggled with the car, it was very snappy. I was comfortably losing the backend of the car. I don’t really know. I had a problem with the car, it was snapping in the high-speeds. It’s a wonder that I wasn’t the driver in the wall.”
Mercedes, the most successful team in the turbo-hybrid era are going through some major hiccups as they battle with the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull who seem to be miles ahead in terms of overall pace. Catch the action live as F1 returns to the fastest street circuit in Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
