Mercedes were unsurpisingly not happy with the first Grand Prix day in Azerbaijan. The team were seventh and tenth in the morning session, and a few hours later they weren’t even in the top ten. Lewis Hamilton finished eleventh, while Valtteri Bottas was P16. It was a shocking day for the seven-time reigning double world champions.
Friday’s running was a cause of great concern to team principal Toto Wolff who wanted to use the current weekend to regain first place in the world championship. With Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen’s P1 and P2 finishes in the second practice session for Red Bull Racing, the opposite seems to have happened, and Wolff showed his displeasure.
The team boss normally takes plenty of time to speak to the media after each session, but Friday afternoon was different. Although Sky Sports F1 were ready to talk to Wolff about where things were going wrong, he decided to head straight to the debriefing and not speak to the press for the time being.
His frustration is evident, despite his lack of words to the media.
