Mercedes say they ‘will not panic or search for scapegoats’ following their torrid begin to the season on the Bahrain Grand Prix… as they promise ‘developments are within the pipeline’ after Lewis Hamilton’s criticism of the automotive
- Mercedes struggled for tempo throughout the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix
- Lewis Hamilton completed nicely down in fifth, with George Russell solely seventh
- The staff have launched an announcement by which they vowed to not panic
Mercedes have launched an announcement in an effort to reassure their followers after a tough begin to the season on the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Regardless of hopes of enchancment following a torrid 2022 marketing campaign, there was no indicators of this on the season-opener, as Mercedes appeared to have solely the fourth-fastest automotive.
Lewis Hamilton completed fifth, with team-mate George Russell in seventh, and the previous lashed out by questioning why the staff ignored his recommendation over the design of their 2023 automotive.
Mercedes reportedly held an emergency meeting this week by which technical director Mike Elliott was mentioned to have been given an ultimatum.
The staff have now revealed a letter to their followers by which they mentioned they will not panic or search for scapegoats, whereas additionally promising developments by which they hope will enhance the automotive.
Mercedes have vowed to not ‘panic or make knee-jerk reactions’ after a tough opening race
Mercedes appeared to have the fourth-fastest automotive behind Purple Bull, Aston Martin and Ferrari
Their letter revealed on Saturday morning learn: ‘Bahrain damage. It damage every one among us, who head into each season decided to combat for world championships. It damage the staff as an entire, after pouring a lot exhausting work right into a automotive that hasn’t met our expectations.
The state of affairs we face proper now is not the one which any of us wished – but it surely’s the one we’ve. That is the fact of it. And the easy questions are: what can we do about it, and what is going to we do about it?
‘We can’t panic or make knee-jerk reactions. In a highlight as fierce as F1, persons are fast to level fingers, or search for scapegoats. However us higher than that. Contained in the staff, we speak about having the braveness to fail, the character to be accountable and the power to see failure as a possibility.
‘We’ve been open and searingly trustworthy about the place we discover ourselves. And we’re working urgently and calmly to construct our restoration plan, specializing in what must occur brief time period, medium time period, and long run to win.
‘We have already got developments within the pipeline for the subsequent races – and there shall be extra to come back. However this would possibly not be the work of a second; there aren’t any silver bullets in F1.’
Heading into the race, Mercedes although have been already involved with their 2023 challenger, the W14, an evolution of final yr’s uncommon ‘no-sidepod’ design that proved extremely problematic and ended up failing to proceed the staff’s eight consecutive constructors’ championships.
Lewis Hamilton publicly questioned why the staff did not hearken to his recommendation over this yr’s automotive
Workforce boss Toto Wolff described the Bahrain GP because the ‘worst weekend’ of his racing profession
Team boss Toto Wolff has effectively already axed the car following what he known as the ‘worst weekend of racing’ on the Sakhir Circuit, focusing on his improvement staff to breed a ‘radical’ new design.
Not solely are Mercedes nonetheless behind Purple Bull and Ferrari in tempo, however Aston Martin additionally seem to have jumped them, with Fernando Alonso overtaking Hamilton on his solution to a podium end behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Final yr, I instructed them the problems which are with the automotive,’ Hamilton said to the BBC after the race. ‘Like, I’ve pushed so many vehicles in my life, so I do know what a automotive wants, I do know what a automotive does not want.
‘And I feel it is actually about accountability, it is about proudly owning up and saying ‘yeah, what, we did not hearken to you, it isn’t the place it must be and we have started working’.
‘We have to look into the steadiness by way of the corners, take a look at all of the weak factors and simply huddle up as a staff, that is what we do.
‘We’re nonetheless multi world champions , it is simply they have not bought it proper this time, they did not get it proper final yr, however that does not imply we will not get it proper shifting forwards.’
