Following Toto Wolff's shock admission at the weekend, Mercedes is left wondering exactly which car it is to develop.

It's fair to say that Wolff's admission at the weekend, after just one race, that Mercedes has got it all wrong and effectively has to return to the drawing board, was seismic, sending shockwaves through the paddock and beyond.

However, the big question is, in returning to the drawing board does the team start work on a B-car, despite the obvious restrictions imposed by the budget cap, as pointed out by Lewis Hamilton, or carry out a top to bottom overhaul of what it already has?

In others words, which car is Mercedes going to work on?

"It is extremely difficult to catch up such an advantage, but it is what we have to do," admits the Austrian. "We have no choice.

"I am not sure the budget cap gives you constraints in the position where we are," he continues, "but we do need to decide which direction we are going in and put all the resources behind it.

"We are still developing one car..." he adds, "the question is just which car?"

"We will tackle it straight away because, when you look at where we were at the end of the (2022) season, where it seemed like we caught up a lot and it was just a matter of which circuits suited us and which not, it seems like we almost doubled if not tripled the gap to Red Bull.

"This is what we need to look at, everything in between, the Ferrari, the Aston, that’s just a sideshow.

"Having said that, what Aston Martin was able to achieve is a good inspiration," he admits, "because they came back from two seconds off the pace to being second-quickest team.

"With us everything is bad. The single-lap pace is still good but in the race we saw the consequences. To put it bluntly, we are lacking downforce, sliding the tyres and going backwards."

Of course, this isn't the work of the moment, and will require everyone in the team to work towards a solution... the last thing needed being criticism or 'I told you so' claims from the drivers.

"The drivers are fully aware," says Wolff. "We are speaking about it openly in the whole team. Everyone is aware, this is not a matter of finding 0.3 seconds and polishing the car up. This is a matter of serious performance we need to find to put us back in a position to fight for race wins and championships."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Stitch431, 17/03/2023 10:40

"Well it is obvious that they are behind (at least a little because 5th and 6th is a result many teams would sign for), but if they are going to try and solve this like described above, in either of the cases they are rapidly going to spend this years budget leaving no room for upgrades towards the end of the season. Unless they will be able to convince the FIA to change the rules ..."

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2. Posted by trackrecords, 10/03/2023 22:33

"I'm amazed that this year's car still looks like the 2022 model. What was there with that they thought worthwhile in retaining? It was not as if it was a Lotus 79 leap forward. Every other car has sidepods and is doing better than last year. Perhaps Williams can give them a few 'suggestions"? "

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3. Posted by ChickenFarmerF1, 10/03/2023 16:19

"@Defiant - the main reason I kinda like the no-refueling rule is it encourages energy efficiency as one goal in the design. If you can figure out how to be very fast with relatively initial onboard little energy you have an advantage over the competition. And it helps drive more efficient designs that eventually trickle down to the rest of us.

I admit there are good arguments the other way too."

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4. Posted by Simon in Adelaide, 10/03/2023 4:31

"As an Engineer, you can polish a turd all you like but at the end of the day it is still a turd.

Maybe a Colin Chapman approach is required

Step 1 - decide what does not work - looks to be most of the bodywork
Step 2 - throw it away
Step 3 - is what is left worth keeping, in this case the engine, tub and the nuts behind the steering wheels

If the answer to 3 is "yes" then new bodywork, if "no" then new car ..... 'simples' :)
"

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5. Posted by kenji, 10/03/2023 2:33

"Looking back to original thread question....I'd suggest that Wolff look no further than beyond the tip of his nose and choose whichever design he has in his back pocket that best resembles the Red Bull. All very simple and terribly inexpensive haha"

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6. Posted by kenji, 10/03/2023 2:07

"Lotsa great comments here regarding the future...in order to start the ball rolling why don't the FIA simply follow Le Mans WEC rules and establish a 'Garage 56' entry. That would be massively interesting/entertaining and provide all of us with concepts of future directions."

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7. Posted by Defiant, 09/03/2023 23:15

"@ChickenFarmerF1, I could live with energy recovery just fine, I'd even go along with a fuel cell technology, I just don't want another full battery formula. I'm also fine with refuelling. When we had it, I was pretty ambivalent toward it as in years gone by they had to manage fuel and I remember a race where nearly everyone ran out, but with the modern tech fuel monitoring it and even estimating it I think that time has passed, so I'd even encourage re-fuelling now. Everything else you suggested I'm with you. F1 used to be the pinnacle of racing formulas, unfortunately I'm not convinced of that anymore. WEC, WRC may have surpassed them now."

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8. Posted by ChickenFarmerF1, 09/03/2023 20:49

"@Defiant - I'm OK with other than ICE. A box the car must fit inside of, crash safety standards that must be met, and a capacity for energy onboard at the start of the race (whether in the form of gasoline/petrol, diesel, jet fuel, battery charge, or unicorn farts or any combination thereof), allow energy recovery (i.e. from heat, or kinetic energy) but not "refueling", must be open wheel/cockpit, otherwise pretty much anything goes. Want some configuration other than rear-engine hybrid-ICE? Go for it. Want to run more/less electrification than now? Go for it. Want to run a turbine? Go for it. Want to test 150 days a year? If you can afford it, go for it? Want to use a crap-ton of CFD? If you can afford it, go for it. Etc."

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9. Posted by Tardis40, 09/03/2023 17:05

"Endre, let's pass the hat and get Lewis a slide rule and a drafting table."

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10. Posted by Defiant, 09/03/2023 16:22

"I love the sarcasm, reading that actually made me laugh.

However @Endre, although I think most of us know someone like this. (Back seat driver, arm chair expert etc.) Comments like this in public are the problem. As I've stated previously. Zip It Sir Lip Flapper.

However, it is his job to point out where the gaps are, NOT, explain why. That would be the engineers job. So my ire is directed at them for getting it wrong and Toto for signing off on a concept that proved very wrong last year. I don't actually care about MB's woes but I miss a genuine fight. We put up with MB's domination for so long I was actually pleased when RB caught up, thing's were spicy and worth watching. Ignoring the abysmal stewardship of 2021, it was a great year to be watching F1. Then the inevitable rule change that constantly ruins the sport comes along. Now we have the same problem with a reversed pairing of teams. Dullllllllllllll.

Don't get me wrong, the engineers genius gets a true highlight under rule change situations but that isn't long remembered or enjoyed. Racing is.

I want the impossible, a set of rules that say, here is a box... fit your car in it. If it passes safety tests then you can race. Engine? Make sure it's an ICE. Not much more than that."

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11. Posted by alvarezh3, 09/03/2023 14:05

"@ Endre

The issue is that Hamilton told his engineers how the car was misbehaving, but he forgot to point out to them the most important part........How to fix it ! :-)"

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12. Posted by kenji, 09/03/2023 13:39

"@ Endre....I agree with you 100%. "

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13. Posted by Endre, 09/03/2023 13:22

"Why the dilemma, didn't Hamilton just give them incredibly valuable, detailed engineering insight? They don't want to listen to him again?? Sounds like they have the biggest untapped engineering genius in the team, just ask him."

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