Mercedes is going to completely revise its strategy after disappointing qualifications in Bahrain
Definitely, Mercedes is not succeeding with their aggressive concept initiated last year. Toto Wolff indicates that the team will turn to other concepts to come back to the top of the rankings.
While the first qualifying session of the 2023 season has just taken place, the hierarchy seems to have remained unchanged at the top. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are on the first row, followed by the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
The W14 from the Mercedes team still doesn’t bring satisfaction, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finishing in sixth and seventh place, even finishing behind Fernando Alonso with his Aston Martin.
The director of the German racing team, Toto Wolff, did not hide his disappointment in the F1 paddock in Bahrain. At the end of the session, he reveals that he no longer has confidence in the concept of the W14.
« I don’t think this package will ever become competitive,” indicated Wolff.
We did our best during the winter and now we need to regroup and sit down with the engineers to decide which development direction we want to take in order to be competitive and win races.
« It’s not just like last year, where we were making podiums and eventually made it. I’m sure we can win races this season, but it’s really in the medium and long term that we need to examine and determine what decisions we need to make. »
« We have reached our goals. We have given our best. And the moment arrives, the stopwatch comes out and it has shown us that it simply isn’t good enough. We don’t have enough support and we need to find solutions to remedy that. »
Aston Martin does better than Mercedes.
Wolff is taking a hit compared to last year, during the first Grand Prix of the 2022 season, the team had a six-tenths deficit and it is still the case one year later. This situation cannot continue, when the goal of the German team is to fight for victories and the world championship. He takes the opportunity to congratulate the rapid progress of the Aston Martin team in just a few months.
Now that Fernando Alonso is here, in front of us, we can only tip our hat to what they have accomplished. They have gained two seconds in six months and their car is half ours, the engine, gearbox, and rear suspension. And it is developed in our wind tunnel.
« There are therefore many parallels and it is sufficient to recognize that they have done a remarkable job. »
The end of the “zero pontoon”
Finally, Toto Wolff specifies that Mercedes will consider several options to determine which development direction the team will take, which most likely means the end of the zero-bargeboards.
We have all the ingredients for success. It is the people and the infrastructure that have allowed us to win eight consecutive championships, and we made a mistake last year.
We thought we could solve the problem by sticking to this concept of car and it didn’t work. So, we just have to focus on what we think is the right direction, on what we’re missing, and so these data this weekend are very important.
Whether it’s about sticking wider pontoons on the car or really subtle things that bring performance, that’s another question. But definitively, we will embark on uncharted paths.
While waiting to change philosophy, we will have to compete in the first Grand Prix of the season, broadcasted at 4pm on Canal+.
