Mercedes have been told to swallow their pride and follow the path laid out by Red Bull when it comes to the redesign of their car.
The Silver Arrows stuck with their car concept despite a tough 2022 season, adamant that they would be able to extract the performance that they need out of it eventually. But it took just one qualifying session of the new campaign for Toto Wolff to concede defeat.
Even before the race in Bahrain, which saw Lewis Hamilton finish fifth with George Russell two places further back, the Austrian had admitted that a rethink was required. "I don't think that this package is going to be competitive eventually," he told reporters.
