“Must be tense at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff openly expressing disappointment”
Mercedes endured a difficult season-opening race in Bahrain, finishing fifth and seventh, over 50 seconds behind race winner 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Max Verstappen.
They left Bahrain with the fourth-quickest car on the F1 2023 grid, dropping behind customer t𓂃eam Aston Martin.
Mercedes’ underwhelming pace has resulted in a sensational u-turn from Wolff, ꩲwho hinted that the team may adopt a new car concept later in the season.
This was backed up by a number of reports, including one from German outlet AMuS, that claimed Mercedes have two new conc❀epts in their wind tunnel.
Writing in his post-race column for Sky Sports F1, Brundle noticed a clear🐠 change in tone from Hamilton and Wolff in Bahrain.
“It se🎶ems to me that Mercedes went the wrong way in 2022 and refuse to turn around,” Brundle wrote. “Even Lewis and Toto were openly expressing their disappointment at certain points of the weekend, and normally they only sing the praises of the teams at B🤪rackley and Brixworth.
“It must be tense at the team right now; the quality is there it just needs direction and oxygen to calm heads.'Zero-sidepod concept' is not the buzz ph♉rase they'll want to hear again, but the mantra from the team was that to change direction would necessitate a step backwards first before working up and understanding a new philosophy of aerodynamics.
“George Russell has alrᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚeady said that he's prepared to suffer that pa🔥in for longer term gain.”
Mercedes were in a similar position 12 months ago, considerably off the pace of the top two teams, while also ombating the issue of 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:porpoising.
Despite the plet☂ho🎐ra of issues, Hamilton and the rest of the team maintained a positive mindset as they looked to turn the team around.
Brundle doubts Mercedes have the “app꧂etite” for another year of trying to cover like in 2022.
“They dogmatically turned the Mercedes into a late winning car last sไeason, but I don't see or hear the appetite for anotℱher year like that,” he added.
“In the early phases o♔f the hybrid era, they had such a hugely dominant power unit - they haven't got that anymore. When the window was open to improve the power units, they lost out. They've also los💯t key people like Andy Cowell, James Vowles, and others, with James Allison also currently focused elsewhere. The remaining talent pool is immense, but it hasn't gelled yet.”
With a sh🌞arp eye for F1’s controversies and storylines, Connor is the heartbeat of our unbiased repo🃏rting.
