Damon Hill says Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton could get ’embarrassed’ in Bahrain Grand Prix

Formula 1 legend Damon Hill has warned Mercedes they could be ‘embarrassed’ in the first Grand Prix of the new season after finishing well off the pace set by Ferrari and Red Bull in qualifying on Saturday.

Reigning champion Max Verstappen was favourite to claim pole position in Bahrain but it was Charles Leclerc who nabbed P1 ahead of the Dutchman, while Carlos Sainz took third spot ahead of Sergio Perez.

Lewis Hamilton was relatively pleased to finish fifth, though teammate George Russell struggled considerably more and could only muster 9th place on the grid in his first qualifying for Mercedes.

Mercedes could be a second per lap slower than the four cars ahead of Hamilton, and Hill believes the seven-time world champ is facing a big task just to stay in fifth place.

‘This is going to be different, this is a whole new complexion to what they’ve been used to,’ said Hill on Sky Sports ahead of Sunday’s race.

‘[Toto Wolff] said something that has also been echoed by Lewis: the gap they had in qualifying when it comes to the race there’s a concern they might be embarrassed tomorrow.

‘There’s not much you can do when you can’t actually keep up in the race.

Max Verstappen wants full FIwants FIA report into Abu Dhabi F1 controversy kept hidden

F1 2022 predictions: Can Hamilton topple Verstappen & will Mercedes dominate Red Bull?

Lewis Hamilton confirms he's changing his name ahead of new F1 season

‘I think it’s going to be a lot of fine fettling. The margins are so tiny I don’t think they can fit in a fundamental design change.

‘They’re going to be working with what they’ve got and trying to get things harmonised and there might be untapped potential but they need to find that fairly soon.’

Hamilton, similarly, suggested Mercedes would