Ralf Schumacher on Mercedes technical team: 'It's a problem'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
What needs to change at Mercedes so they can start competing for victory again? That is the question many people are currently asking themselves. Ralf Schumacher, former Formula 1 driver and member of the Schumacher racing family, is trying to figure out the answer.
"I don't think Mercedes has ever addressed its problems as openly and honestly as they are now," the German noted in his interview with Formel1.de. That may be special, but unfortunately, it does not eliminate the problems. These have actually piled up compared to last year, according to Schumacher.
"The problem is, not only that for the second year in a row, we have a car that can't win and that is being eaten up by a small sister team, but we also have to think about who is actually doing it. After all, someone believed in this concept, a technical team, with all their might."
The German points out that this is a painful realisation. Mercedes has to figure out how they still want to successfully implement this concept and whether it can be done with the same group of people. Schumacher does not believe there is anything left to be gained from the current concept and maps that if they choose to change things, it will take Mercedes even more time.
How will it work out for Mercedes for now?
Whatever choice Mercedes makes, it seems that the process for improvement will be painful. If they choose their current concept, the options for improving it are few, and it will take a long time to regain success. If they choose another concept, it will take a long time to implement this, and even then, it will take a long time for Mercedes to be able to win.
Incidentally, the circuit in Jeddah, where the Grand Prix is this weekend, is different from the one in Bahrain. Perhaps Mercedes will manage to get just a bit more out of its car here for now, although many people do not sound positive about the prospects.