Mercedes’ F1 rivals expect team to “wake up” soon

The former world champion squad endured a disappointing Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend as it found itself behind main opposition Red Bull and Ferrari, and it was also leapfrogged by Aston Martin.

Its struggles have left the German car manufacturer pondering a complete change of car concept as it believes it needs to do something different to get back to the front of the grid.

While the possibility of needing to go down an alternative design direction has opened the prospect of Mercedes having to sacrifice short-term gains with its current W14, its opposition is not convinced that the team will stay down for too long.

They believe it is far too early to conclude that Mercedes is out of the battle at the front simply based on how it performed in Bahrain.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said: “It’s race one and we don’t have to do any conclusion.

“I think that Mercedes will wake up soon. We don’t know what will happen next week.

“The next race will be a different story in Jeddah with a different tarmac. So let’s see in Jeddah if we have a better picture.”

Vasseur’s belief about Mercedes making steps forward from its current position has been backed by Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko.

Asked if Red Bull’s main rival was Ferrari or Aston Martin, Marko said: “After one race, it’s difficult to say. There are still many competitors left. I also believe that Mercedes will become better throughout the season.”

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner also thinks that the possibility is there for Mercedes to make significant gains if it does switch to a better-performing concept.

“I’ve been around long enough to see things change so quickly,” he said. “I think these cars are still relatively immature and, as teams develop and upgrades come, things will change.”

Amid talk of Mercedes changing concept, Horner reckons that there could be a lot of convergence towards the downwash sidepod solution that his squad pioneered, and Aston Martin has also pursued.

“I think the operating windows of these cars is very narrow and every team in the top three looks like it has developed its own theme,” he said.

“One team has adopted our theme and it made a gain So I guess at one point it is going to converge and that can happen during a season.”