Mercedes’ technical director given an “ultimatum” to “revive” team’s F1 project after ’emergency meeting’ – Report

Mercedes are in a bit of a crisis right now. By their standards, at least. Once again, they’ve started the season in a disappointing manner. It’s even fair to say that they have taken a step backwards from 2022 – on that occasion, they were the third-fastest team. At last weekend’s F1 Bahrain GP, they looked like the fourth-fastest team. Insult to injury is the fact that they were jumped by Aston Martin – who happen to be their customer team!

Time will tell if Aston Martin can maintain their ‘edge’ over Mercedes’ F1 challenger, and to a lesser extent, over Ferrari. The signs are certainly positive, but it’s hard to judge as Bahrain is such a unique circuit. But even then, it’s obvious that the Silver Arrows have to do better. Many had expected a three-way title fight in 2023 between Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes. But right now, that looks like a distant dream.

Mercedes have now ‘admitted defeat’ with their current, ‘zeropods’ car concept. Devising and developing a new one will take a considerable amount of time – which means a part of the season will be sacrificed. George Russell suggested that perhaps all of 2023 will have to be sacrificed. Lewis Hamilton, in an interview, made his displeasure clear with the car, saying that the team “didn’t listen to him”. Even Toto Wolff, the team principal, had said to ORF: “We can throw our car in the trash can.”

In other words, the concept was a failure. Mercedes had been convinced to keep working on the same concept as they showed some pace late in 2022, but it seems that it was a ‘red herring’. All of this puts the man, Mike Elliott, who oversaw the W14’s development under a lot of pressure. And it seems he has been issued an “ultimatum”.

Read More: Budget cap won’t impede Mercedes’ progress: Toto Wolff

Mercedes held a “long meeting” after the Bahrain GP

At the same time, there has been some progress for Mercedes F1 – such as the increased straight-line speed and the lack of bouncing/porpoising. But the aerodynamic concept still continues to be a problem – and now they’ll be looking to develop a new one. This is already a lot of pressure, and the comments from key members like Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff won’t ease Mike Elliott’s mind.

According to formu1a.uno, following and the race and the return to Brackley, there was a “long meeting that lasted late into the night”. The same report states that the current “climate” at Mercedes, is that of an “ultimatum” to Elliott, the technical director, to revive their current project. But, of course, just devising a new concept isn’t all the work – it must be better than the current one, of course. It must be a winner and should elevate the team into better competitiveness with Red Bull.

Starting behind at the start of new regulations never helps – but those are the cards that Mercedes’ F1 team have been dealt. It’s going to be a hard road to recovery. It’s also ‘wasting’ valuable time for Hamilton, who is 37, and still holds out hope for an eighth world title. It’ll be interesting to see how Mercedes proceed from here on in.

In case you missed it:

• “I’ve driven so many cars in my life, I know what a car needs,” Lewis Hamilton blasts Mercedes for snubbing his inputs while designing W14
• Lewis Hamilton asks for “accountability” from Mercedes for ignoring his advice on car issues

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