Mercedes boss Toto Wolff: Will our car look like a Red Bull? I don’t care, changes have to come!

Like last year, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team has not made an ideal start to the new Formula 1 season. Logically, therefore, changes have to be made, especially with regard to the aerodynamic aspect of the car. In addition, team boss Toto Wolff has already hinted at the direction that needs to be taken.

The Mercedes team is not so terrible in terms of results, but in terms of on-track performance, the German team loses a lot, especially compared to Red Bull.

For example, just in Bahrain the Mercedes driver lost an abysmal 50 and 55 seconds to the winner Max Verstappen.

In Saudi Arabia, thanks to the configuration of the circuit, George Russell lost less than 26 seconds to the race winner, Lewis Hamilton 31.

However, Mercedes is also currently behind Aston Martin in terms of performance. Hamilton, it should be added, recently described the Red Bull cars as the fastest he had ever seen.

Although we must objectively note that Mercedes’ monoblocs from 2014 to 2016, for example, were downright unrivalled, crushing everyone in the field. What is certain, however, is that if the German stable wants to be successful again, change must come.

The technological concept with virtually zero side skirts, to which Mercedes has remained faithful for this year, is clearly not working as Toto Wolff and co. envisioned. And it is the Mercedes boss who admits they need to make their cars faster. And it doesn’t matter how.

“I don’t think we have any dogmatism at this stage about what the car should look like. It just has to be as fast as possible, and if the car looks like a Red Bull, I don’t care. It just has to be fast, ” Wolff told reporters ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.

Mercedes is prepared to make various aerodynamic changes, according to the boss. How long it will take for them to actually work, if at all, is a big question.

Sources: F1, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1