$135 Million Restriction Triggers “Civil War” at Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton’s “Snappy” Comments Come Back to Bite Him

If Mercedes’ fans thought their nightmares came true last season, they were very wrong. Instead of developing a car forward, the team, despite solving porpoising, seems to have hit the reverse gear on the development. What’s the way ahead? Full of dilemmas and hard choices that can again make or break their next season.

Moreover, Mercedes has stumbled on a bigger issue, which will push them further into a rut. The absence of high morale is the issue, which was somehow managed last year. This year the hit is stronger, and their values appear to be crumbling down. The development in the factory has been unsatisfactory. The snappy comments from the drivers has everyone concerned so much that the team had to address the issue via a press release! Additionally, the cost cap of $135 million isn’t exactly there to help them.

Peter Windsor, a former Ferrari executive, provided insight into the impact of the statements made by the drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, and their boss, Toto Wolff. In a video posted on his channel, he said, “You know you do wonder how much these kind of, you know, snappy comments in the press are related to what the engineers are doing. James Allison and you know everyone else back at Brackley trying to decide what do we need to do to get this car to be competitive, and you have to guess given their success over the past sort of decade that they know how to do that. So you know there’s almost like a civil war going on.”

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The team is believed to be clueless, as a decision on whether to go for a new design or develop the current one which has yet to be made. To come out of this problem, Mercedes is looking everywhere for inspiration, but struggling to find it.

Restrictions for Lewis Hamilton & Co.

Toto Wolff’s team is at a crossroads, with a cost cap as the problem at hand. The team can’t proceed with all the possible solutions at hand, but will have to gamble with one.

After analyzing the situation and evaluating the options at Brackley, Peter Windsor added, “There’s two ways you can tackle it. I mean, it could be mainly an aero update to the car and the suspension, which under the budget cap is kind of doable. From let’s make the bodywork, and you know, change the suspension component’s perspective. But then you think, well, they need this out quickly, or else there’s no point spending all of that money, and then you’ve then got the error testing restrictions.” 

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Mercedes isn’t really used to being stuck in such situations. What’s the way out for them, in your opinion? Let us know in the comments below.