Fernando Alonso couldn't resist having a pop at Lewis Hamilton and George Russell after being beaten by both Brits in Australian Grand Prix qualifying.
Mercedes have endured a tough start to the season and were not as competitive as they would have liked in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia. Australia looks like it might bear more fruit for the Brits, though, judging by their qualifying results.
Alonso was expected to be the closest challenger to the Red Bulls with Sergio Perez also hoping to get the better of team-mate Max Verstappen. But the Mexican beached his car in the gravel in Q1, while the Spaniard was bested by both Hamilton and Russell.
The younger Brit will start on the front row alongside pole-sitter Verstappen, with Hamilton just ahead of Alonso on the second row. The Spaniard thinks it is evidence that the Silver Arrows have been over-dramatising their car struggles in public.
"They were definitely very fast in Jeddah already and they were fast in FP2," he told Sky Sports after the session in Melbourne. "They are always fast. If you read their comments it seems like they have a car that is out of Q3, but it is a fast car."
His compatriot Carlos Sainz concurred. In a rare double interview in the TV pen, the Ferrari driver backed up Alonso's view and suggested that the Mercedes cars are actually a lot more competitive than the team makes out.
Sainz said: "They're a lot faster than people think and especially in the race. They had a pace very close to Fernando in Jeddah and they were both going flat out. We couldn't keep up with them. That car is quick, clearly not as quick as the Red Bull because no-one is, and when they put qualifying together they can be a very strong package."
Speaking after qualifying himself, Hamilton maintained that the result was a "totally unexpected" one. He said: "George did a fantastic job there today and for us to be up there on the two front rows is honestly a dream for us. We're all working as hard as we can to get right back up the front so to be this close to the Red Bull is honestly incredible.
"We hope tomorrow we can give them a bit of a run for their money, and hope the weather is good. The second lap wasn't as good as the first one. I did get a little bit further ahead in the last sector but ultimately I lost out a little bit in the beginning. But I'm not disappointed – I'm super grateful for this position and I'm going to work as hard as I can to move forward tomorrow."
