'Bahrain a wake-up call for Mercedes despite win'

The Bahrain Grand Prix will serve as a wake-up call to Mercedes, despite taking a second one-two finish after just two races of the 2019 season, according to former team principal Ross Brawn. Lewis Hamilton won in Sakhir, but only as a result of Charles Leclerc's late power outage.

Leclerc became the second-youngest pole-sitter in formula 1 history on the Saturday, only to have a likely win snatched away from him.

Sebastian Vettel had lined up alongside Leclerc on the front row, but was not in position to capitalise as a result of a spin while battling Hamilton for second place.

After Mercedes enjoyed an untroubled Australian Grand Prix, they were well off Ferrari's pace in the desert, something that Brawn believes will be cause for concern at Brackley, despite the result.

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"If you record two one-two finishes in the first two races, you should be in seventh heaven, believing you have dealt a severe blow to your rivals' hopes," Formula 1 managing director Brawn said.

"Mercedes boss Toto Wolff openly admitted that while it had somewhat unexpectedly finished ahead of the rest in Melbourne, practically unchallenged, it was a very different story in Bahrain.

"If it hadn't have been for Leclerc's loss of power, Hamilton would have had no chance of attacking the Ferrari, nor would Bottas have finished second, a result that means he keeps his championship lead.

"Mercedes are aware of the real situation and they have to fight back against what is clearly a very competitive Ferrari this year.

"If you've won everything since 2014 there's a risk of resting on one's laurels but Bahrain will have been a wake-up call that they will not be ignoring as they hold their debriefs at home this week."

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