Mercedes began teasing us with teasers of black livery before revealing it on 15th February. And the fans’ happiness knew no bounds when they saw a glimpse of the past, as the German team revealed a livery close to their fastest creation, W11. However, the reality soon set in, as the team couldn’t replicate the past beyond the looks. However, the promised Imola upgrades will be unleashed within a week’s time. But the question remains, when did the pride of Brackley engineers take a back seat to steer the developmental race?

While Red Bull has churned out blazing-fast cars again, Christian Horner believes that the dominance won’t be intact going forward due to the restrictions and the budget breach penalty added on top of that. However, despite that, no team has been able to close the gap with the Milton Keynes machines. And Mercedes self-admittedly stated that they wouldn’t have been able to catch the Red Bulls had they continued on the same path. And hence, they took a decision to change the car.

In the post-race debrief video, Andrew Shovlin stated, “It was around that time that we took some decisions on how we develop the car, how the car works aerodynamically, and how we shape the characteristics of the car. In essence, how it is in terms of handling for the drivers to drive. What we are going to be bringing to the track in Imola is the first step of that work.“

He added why the team has still been so far behind despite knowing the drawbacks during the Bahrain testing. He said, “This takes quite a long time to develop in the wind tunnel and you can’t just do these things overnight.”

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But if the Imola upgrades don’t prove to be fruitful, Lewis Hamilton is being urged to make a move and the scarlet wonder is being tipped to woo him.

Can Ferrari woo Lewis Hamilton to jump ships?

In 2012, Mercedes announced that they will replace Michael Schumacher with Hamilton. However, the Briton’s move wasn’t so easy as it took the might of Niki Lauda and Ross Brawn to convince him. And now, Ferrari is being tipped to follow this example from a decade ago to entice the Mercedes man.

As quoted by Motorsports, Herbert said, “Ferrari has to sell itself the same way. Lewis has yet to extend his contract, which allows him to look elsewhere. Why not? Ferrari has to be an option. He can’t go to Red Bull or Aston Martin. I know Ferrari is not getting what they want right now, but they certainly have potential.”

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Do you think Hamilton will jump ships and strap himself in a Maranello machine?