Formula 1: Should Mercedes be concerned?

Mercedes haven’t lost four consecutive races in the V6 turbo hybrid era of Formula 1. Should they be concerned about that changing in the Russian Grand Prix and perhaps worsening beyond it?

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s start to the 2019 Formula 1 season, which included an all-time record five consecutive 1-2 finishes, was historically good.

But after going on to win 10 of the 21-race season’s first 12 races, including eight with five-time champion Lewis Hamilton and the other two with Valtteri Bottas, the Silver Arrows have struggled, and they haven’t been victorious in nearly two months.

Part of this stems from the fact that the four-week summer break followed up Hamilton’s Hungarian Grand Prix victory at the start of August.

But another part of it stems from a recent surge by Scuderia Ferrari.

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Ferrari, which entered the summer break having not won a race since last October, were expected to excel in the two races coming off of the summer break, the Belgian Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix.

The host tracks of these two races, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and Autodromo Nazionale Monza, place a huge emphasis on straight-line speed, and that is in area in which Ferrari have excelled this season despite their early struggles.

It was Charles Leclerc who finally put Ferrari in the wins column by holding off Hamilton to win the Belgian Grand Prix and secure his first Formula 1 victory, and one week later, he held off both Hamilton and Bottas to double his career win total in the Italian Grand Prix. He started both races from the pole position.

Mercedes were expected to be their usual dominant selves in the Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay Street Circuit. They had won the race in each of the last three seasons and four of the last five, and the track appeared to suit their car.

But Leclerc took the pole position for the race before Ferrari’s strategy call promoted teammate Sebastian Vettel from third place to the lead and then the victory. As a result, Ferrari had secured three consecutive victories for the first time since the 2008 season, and they had secured their first 1-2 finish in over two years.

Meanwhile, Mercedes found themselves off of the podium for just the second time in the 2019 season and in the midst of just their second three-race losing streak since the V6 turbo hybrid era began in the 2014 season.

The Brackley-based team have not lost four consecutive races in the V6 turbo hybrid era. Fortunately for them, the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi Autodromo is up next, and they have five wins, including three 1-2 finishes, in five races there.

To add on to that, they had led 228 of the 264 laps that have been contested at the 18-turn, 3.634-mile (5.848-kilometer) Sochi Autodrom road course in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia.

Sochi Autodrom is the perfect place for them to get back on the right track.

Or it could be the perfect place for Ferrari to make their rivals officially panic.

Through the three practice sessions for this race, all signs point to the latter being a far greater possibility than most expected.

Leclerc topped the speed chart in the first practice session ahead of Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen in second place. Vettel finished in third, and Bottas and Hamilton rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the second practice session, it was Verstappen who topped the speed chart ahead of Leclerc in second place. Bottas and Hamilton finished in third and fourth, respectively, ahead of Vettel in fifth.

Finally, in the third practice session, Leclerc topped the speed chart ahead of Vettel in second place with Hamilton in third, Bottas in fourth and Verstappen in fifth.

Should Mercedes be concerned?

Absolutely, and it’s more than just these three practice sessions and the most recent few races that back up this idea.

Several times earlier this season, Ferrari had Mercedes covered — or so they thought.

But they always found ways to blow it, be it in qualifying via crashes, mechanical issues, terrible strategy calls, etc., or in the races themselves via the like.

With all things considered, Ferrari should have at least seven victories this year.

Now they are firing on all cylinders, and they are as hot as they’ve been in more than a decade. Meanwhile, Mercedes are in an unfamiliar position of not being the team to beat.

Of course, only the qualifying session for the Russian Grand Prix and the race itself will tell us for sure.

But this is already no longer a case of Ferrari winning where and when they’re expected to win. This is a case of Ferrari beating Mercedes where and when Mercedes are supposed to win even after one of the worst starts to a season the Scuderia have ever had.

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The qualifying session for the Russian Grand Prix, which is the 16th race on the 2019 Formula 1 schedule, is scheduled to begin at 7:55 a.m. ET later this morning. It is set to be broadcast live on ESPN2 from Sochi Autodrom. The race itself is set to be broadcast live on ESPN2 tomorrow morning beginning at 7:05 a.m. ET.

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