Mercedes slumps to worst F1 start in over a decade

Mercedes is suffering its worst beginning to an F1 season in over 10 years, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell having taken 64 points from the opening six rounds of the year.

Not since 2012 has the Brackley team started the year so slowly. To further compound its poor form, the year of comparison was prior to the introduction of the fastest lap point and sprint weekends.

Therefore, 36 fewer points were on offer compared to 2024 - with a maximum 15 points per team in each of the two sprints so far this season, and the six possible fastest lap points.

Mercedes has struggled to get to grips with contemporary ground-effects in F1, and having dominated the championship between 2014 and 2021, it has taken just one grand prix victory since the latest slate of regulations was introduced in 2022.

Unable to turn its form around, the eight-time constructors champions have begun to resemble the team it was between 2010 and 2013.

In 2012, at the hands of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, the team went on to score a total of 142 points in the constructors' championship - its lowest tally since returning to F1.

The season prior, the pair started the season worse, with only 40 points from the opening six rounds, but would end the year with a better points haul at 165.

In what could be a bad omen for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, in 2012, Mercedes went on to finish fifth in the constructors' standings. 

Despite Rosberg's win in China that year, which was the German marque's first in modern F1, the team could not compete with Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren - those three teams went on to top the standings come season's end.

In round seven, Rosberg claimed sixth position and eight points whilst team-mate Schumacher retired, meaning that Hamilton and Russell must themselves take six points at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in order to prevent slipping to Mercedes' worst start to an F1 season since 2011.