Letās turn back the clock to the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen engaged in what was one of the most intense duels in over a decade; The pair came together at the very first corner of lap 1 before the Dutchman went on to win his first race of the season, subsequently declaring his hunger for the title.
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One year later, while Verstappen is still very much keeping himself in the midst of the battle at the top, Hamilton has pretty much disappeared from the face of the championship altogether. Following an awful qualifying session on Friday, it almost looked like Mercedes had pretty much nothing to lose. Well, turns out we were wrong!
The Brackley outfit did lose something valuable the very next day during the short-burst Sprint event as well. Of course, it barely has any effect on the teamās performance itself but does add more juice to their embarrassing run of form.
Disappearance of Lewis Hamilton & George Russell
We sensed something rather unusual as the 21-lap Sprint unfolded in Imola. Almost every race until today has had Mercedes in pole position with respect to the live coverage.
Mercedes stranded outside the top 10 or even out of a race? āNot a problem!ā
Reuters
Formula One F1 ā Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ā Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy ā April 23, 2022 Mercedesā George Russell, AlphaTauriās Yuki Tsunoda and Mercedesā Lewis Hamilton in action during the sprint race REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
That has barely prevented F1 from focusing part of their coverage on the Silver Arrows. Every now and then, one could see either of the Mercedes drivers on live TV throughout the session. However, heading into the first sprint of the 2022 season, that was quite shockingly not the case.
From the very start, most of our eyes were glued to the intense Charles Leclerc-Max Verstappen duel upfront and the McLaren-Haas-Alfa Romeo battles behind. Unfortunately, that also meant that Mercedes barely made it onto live TV through the 30-odd minutes.
It almost seemed as if the two British drivers werenāt even part of the race which certainly puts the entire team in a bad light. And, in the end, Russell and Hamilton crossed the finish line in P11 and P14, respectively, concluding what is arguably the quietest race of their decade-long F1 stint.
Russell loses P2 in the championship
Just when we thought Mercedes had hit finally their rock bottom, Russell has now lost his P2 to Carlos Sainz too. Following the splendid recovery drive in the sprint, Sainz managed to pip ahead of Russell in the championship standings by a mere point.
Reuters
Formula One F1 ā Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ā Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy ā April 22, 2022 Mercedesā George Russell during practice REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
Whatās more, the gap could well extend further considering the Spaniard will start his race from a decent P4 while Russell finds himself stranded outside the top 10. To rub salt to the wound, Russell could potentially lose P3 and P4 to the high-flying Red Bull pair.
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So, will this downward spiral ever come to a halt for Mercedes anytime soon? Can the promised rain throw in an element of uncertainty in favor of Mercedes on Sunday? Only time will tell.
Fans react to Mercedesā lack of on-screen presence during Sprint
Also - is that the first race since he started where we didnāt actually see @LewisHamilton?! I know it was only 21 laps but still - seeing both Mercs stuck outside the top 10 seemed unfathomable just six weeks ago!!
Still not used to Mercedes being totally irrelevant. Donāt think we saw them on-screen literally once.
Nope. They have been terrible. The only way they got points is by being lucky. We didnāt even get any Mercedesā screen time today. Lewis was just casually driving round in 14th lol
I can't help but smile everytime I see a Mercedes on my screen and it's down in P14.
Hamilton got ZERO screen time that race. What have Mercedes done to him
The sprint is about to finish and I think for the first time ever in a race, Mercedes had zero screen time. šš¼ for Petronas
Sky sports aināt even show Lewis hamilton on screen yet. Mercedes should be ashamed
i miss seeing mercedes on screenš