Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve agree on why Mercedes should be ‘worried’ after the Japanese GP

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Despite Kimi Antonelli winning the Japanese Grand Prix, Mercedes have some cause for concern after seeing other teams’ performances.

Antonelli admitted he got lucky against Oscar Piastri, who looked set to win the race until a safety car allowed Mercedes to execute a well-timed pitstop to give the Italian driver a huge advantage.

Despite this, Toto Wolff admitted Mercedes’ starts were a problem that almost cost them the race, marking the third time this season they’ve had to overcome a poor start.

How the championship looks after Japan

Which drivers are out of position heading into the break?

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Mercedes also struggled to beat teams in traffic, an issue few noticed during the course of the race until Jacques Villeneuve pointed it out.

But both he and Damon Hill believe Mercedes showed their first signs of weakness during the Japanese Grand Prix, as Kimi Antonelli and George Russell faced very stiff competition.

READ MORE: Charles Leclerc says George Russell’s Mercedes engineer was ‘being quite cheeky’ during Japanese GP

Damon Hill believes Mercedes no longer ‘feel safe’ as favourites after Japanese Grand Prix

Damon Hill spoke on the F1 post-race show at Suzuka about Mercedes’ performance, where he pointed out some signs of concern for the current championship leaders.

He noted that it looks like both Ferrari and McLaren seem to have caught up to them, and they aren’t enjoying the dominance we saw from them during the first two races this season.

“I think they’re experienced enough to know that nothing lasts forever. Being at the front, you can enjoy an advantage, but in this game, the rate of change is so quick.

“And I think they also know that their Mercedes-powered competitors are learning what they already knew, and they may well find out the way to gain.

“Some of this is about knowledge; it’s not necessarily about pure performance. It’s how to use deployment and the algorithms and all the rest of it that come into play.”

READ MORE: Max Verstappen has now taken ‘Mercedes or nothing’ stance on staying in Formula 1

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Jacques Villeneuve believes Mercedes’ gap over other teams is shrinking

Adding to Damon Hill’s criticisms, Jacques Villeneuve noted that Mercedes’ performance on a car-dependent track like Suzuka showed that their advantage over everyone else isn’t as great as once feared.

“I would be worried if I was Mercedes now. The first two races, easy. They felt safe. They don’t feel safe after this race. The gap is not as big as they expected, mostly on a track that is very car-dependent.

“This is a track where, if your car is good, you’ll be in front. And a weekend for Mercedes where you don’t finish first and second is not a good weekend. A normal weekend for Mercedes is first and second. Today is a big off.”

With other teams seemingly making strides in their development, Mercedes have reason to be afraid. Toto Wolff even admitted McLaren are catching up to them in terms of their understanding of the power unit.

And now, with a five-week hiatus giving teams time to work on their cars and make changes, Mercedes’ initial dominance could become an anecdote about the start of the season come December.