Mercedes say they 'won't panic or make knee-jerk reactions'

Mercedes say they ‘won’t panic or look for scapegoats’ following their torrid start to the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix… as they promise ‘developments are in the pipeline’ after Lewis Hamilton’s criticism of the car

• Mercedes struggled for pace during the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix
• Lewis Hamilton finished well down in fifth, with George Russell only seventh 
• The team have released a statement in which they vowed not to panic 

Mercedes have released a statement in an effort to reassure their fans after a difficult start to the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Despite hopes of improvement following a torrid 2022 campaign, there was no signs of this at the season-opener, as Mercedes appeared to have only the fourth-fastest car.

Lewis Hamilton finished fifth, with team-mate George Russell in seventh, and the former lashed out by questioning why the team ignored his advice over the design of their 2023 car.

Mercedes reportedly held an emergency meeting this week in which technical director Mike Elliott was said to have been given an ultimatum.

The team have now published a letter to their fans in which they said they won’t panic or look for scapegoats, while also promising developments in which they hope will improve the car.

Mercedes have vowed not to ‘panic or make knee-jerk reactions’ after a difficult opening race

Mercedes appeared to have the fourth-fastest car behind Red Bull, Aston Martin and Ferrari

Their letter published on Saturday morning read: ‘Bahrain hurt. It hurt each one of us, who head into every season determined to fight for world championships. It hurt the team as a whole, after pouring so much hard work into a car that hasn’t met our expectations.

The situation we face right now isn’t the one that any of us wanted – but it’s the one we have. That’s the reality of it. And the simple questions are: what can we do about it, and what will we do about it?

‘We won’t panic or make knee-jerk reactions. In a spotlight as fierce as F1, people are quick to point fingers, or look for scapegoats. But you know us better than that. Inside the team, we talk about having the courage to fail, the character to be accountable and the strength to see failure as an opportunity.

‘We have been open and searingly honest about where we find ourselves. And we are working urgently and calmly to build our recovery plan, focusing on what needs to happen short term, medium term, and long term to win. 

‘We already have developments in the pipeline for the next races – and there will be more to come. But this won’t be the work of a moment; there are no silver bullets in F1.’

Heading into the race, Mercedes though were already concerned with their 2023 challenger, the W14, an evolution of last year’s unusual ‘no-sidepod’ design that proved highly problematic and ended up failing to continue the team’s eight consecutive constructors’ championships. 

Lewis Hamilton publicly questioned why the team didn’t listen to his advice over this year’s car

Team boss Toto Wolff described the Bahrain GP as the ‘worst weekend’ of his racing career

Team boss Toto Wolff has effectively already axed the car following what he called the ‘worst weekend of racing’ at the Sakhir Circuit, targeting his development team to reproduce a ‘radical’ new design.

Not only are Mercedes still behind Red Bull and Ferrari in pace, but Aston Martin also appear to have jumped them, with Fernando Alonso overtaking Hamilton on his way to a podium finish behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

Last year, I told them the issues that are with the car,’ Hamilton said to the BBC after the race. ‘Like, I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn’t need.

‘And I think it’s really about accountability, it’s about owning up and saying ‘yeah, you know what, we didn’t listen to you, it’s not where it needs to be and we’ve got to work’.

‘We’ve got to look into the balance through the corners, look at all the weak points and just huddle up as a team, that’s what we do.

‘We’re still multi world champions you know, it’s just they haven’t got it right this time, they didn’t get it right last year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get it right moving forwards.’

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