F1 Pundit Has Low Hopes For Mercedes: "They Lost Out"

Martin Brundle doesn't see the burning fire to win in the Mercedes camp like he used to.

Former F1 driver and sport pundit, Martin Brundle, has expressed his concerns about Mercedes’ performance this season. After a difficult start to the 2023 campaign in Bahrain, Brundle believes things “must be tense” behind the scenes in the Mercedes team.

Mercedes began the season with hopes of reducing the gap to Red Bull and Ferrari, but the substantial deficit to Red Bull in particular has raised eyebrows. It has forced the team's workforce back at their bases in Brackley and Brixworth to rethink their design and potentially start from scratch.

Lewis Hamilton expressed his disappointment after the Bahrain Grand Prix, stating that Mercedes “didn’t listen” to his feedback and thoughts on how to develop the W14 last year. Although he added that “that doesn’t mean we can’t get it right moving forwards,” these words marked a departure from the seven-time World Champion’s usual way of praising his team after races.

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff was equally as critical, admitting that the car should be thrown in the trash.

Brundle has now commented on this in his column for Sky Sports:

“It seems to me that Mercedes went the wrong way in 2022 and refuse to turn around.

“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 Brackley 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 phrase 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 already said that he’s prepared to suffer that pain for longer term gain.

“It seems to me that Mercedes went the wrong way in 2022 and refuse to turn around," he admitted.

He continued:

“They dogmatically turned the Mercedes into a late winning car last season, but I don’t see or hear the appetite for another year like that.

“In the early phases of 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 lost 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.

“And before changing the philosophy and architecture of a Formula 1 car you need to understand what you want and where you’re heading, which is especially difficult in the cost-cap era 23 race season.”

Changing the philosophy and architecture of a Formula 1 car is no small feat. It takes time and money, and in this era of the cost cap, these are two things the team hasn't got in spades.