Toto Wolff admits "we got it wrong" with Mercedes' car concept

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has expressed his concerns about the current aerodynamic design of the Mercedes W14 car, admitting that it is not working as intended.

Mercedes decided to stick with their skinny sidepod design for this campaign, but the opening qualifying session of 2023 suggested that it may have been a mistake.

With Russell and Hamilton only able to manage sixth and seventh respectively in the first qualifying session of the season, Wolff made it clear that he believes the current design of the car is not going to work.

“I don’t think this package is going to be competitive eventually,” he said.

"We gave it our best go over the winter and now we need to regroup, sit down with the engineers, and decide what is the development direction that we want to pursue in order to be competitive to win races."

Wolff emphasized the importance of having a car that can fight for an eighth championship in the mid- and long-term, stating that "definitely within the group we will embark on untrodden paths."

The team plans to modify its bodywork with a major upgrade later in the season, but Wolff admits it is unlikely to be enough to close the gap to the front and challenge for the title this year.

"In this team we blame the problem and not the person," said Wolff. "So, we have all the ingredients to be successful -- the people and infrastructure that won eight championships in a row.

"We got it wrong last year, we thought we could fix it by sticking to this concept of car and it didn't work out."

"We need to switch our focus on to what we believe can be the right direction -- what it is that we are missing."

Wolff also praised Aston Martin stating "They gained two seconds in half a year and their car is half ours, from the engine, gearbox and the rear suspension. And the same wind tunnel."

Mercedes has been losing performance in high-speed corners according to GPS data, and while the new car is a match for the fastest cars in low-speed corners, it falls short of its rivals in other areas.

Wolff concluded by stating that "we just need to sort out what that is and whether that is sticking bigger sidepods on the car or really subtle things that bring performance is a different question."

"Definitely within the group we will embark on untrodden paths."