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Mercedes must fix 'significant problems' early or fall in F1 'power shift', says Hakkinen

Mercedes must solve the issues with their W13 car or risk being left behind by Red Bull and Ferrari in Formula 1’s ‘power shift’, according to two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen.

The Silver Arrows have won eight consecutive constructors’ champions but are way off the pace so far in 2022, with George Russell finishing fifth and Lewis Hamilton tenth in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

While Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc fought for the win, the Mercedes cars were suffering from intense bouncing on the straights at high speeds and were slow through the corners, leaving Hamilton unable to challenge for a record-breaking eighth drivers’ championship unless the team can find aerodynamic solutions to its problems quickly.

With this the first season of F1’s new era of regulations, each team will develop upgrades to their car as they discover weaknesses in their machinery, and former McLaren driver Hakkinen says Mercedes must do so quickly if they are to be able to challenge the frontrunners.

‘Mercedes have a significant set of problems to fix if they are to catch up with Red Bull and Ferrari,’ the Finn wrote in his Unibet column. ‘They need to do it quite quickly because the top two teams are going to be pushing so hard on their own development. It was very strange to see the Mercedes cars starting fifth and 16th, with Lewis Hamilton clearly unhappy with the set-up of his car.’

Red Bull and Ferrari have built cars which wildly different aerodynamic concepts to one another, but are very evenly matched for pace so far this campaign. Hakkinen believes that the battle is a refreshing change.

‘After two races we can see that there has been a power shift in Formula 1,’ he added. ‘We knew from the opening race in Bahrain that

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