F1 pundit weighs in on the dilemma faced by Mercedes, "They have to make a decision in the next couple of races"

F1 pundit and presenter Karun Chandhok feels that Mercedes needs to make a drastic decision in the coming days about whether to go ahead with their current concept or change it completely. Since the new F1 regulations went into effect in 2022, it is clear that the Silver Arrows have struggled to perform well. Though they gradually improved their car in 2023, they are nowhere near the top.

Hence, Karun Chandhok feels that if the British team wants to return to the throne in F1, they have to make an important decision of whether to scrap their current concept and go back to square one, or continue with it and try to make it work. Speaking on the Sky Sports vodcast on YouTube, the Indian F1 presenter said:

"Mercedes have got to think about, 'Do we throw away, do we knock down the first two years that we have built, and build three tiers in the same time in which everyone else is going to build just the last tier for next year.' And that decision will have to be made now. Because the architecture, the layout, and the concept of the car, will get signed off by April by all of the teams. In the next couple of races, they have to make the decision of do they abandon this concept and go with a whole new plan for next year."

He concluded:

"I think Toto is right to feel tense and frustrated."

At the start of the 2023 F1 season, Mercedes mentioned that they were quite confident with their zero-pod concept and how they had fixed several fundamental issues with the car. However, after pre-season testing and the first race weekend in Bahrain, it is clear that they have not improved massively.

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Mercedes team boss feels Aston Martin's performance is 'good news' for his team

Aston Martin's pace in the 2023 F1 Bahrain GP was surprising and fascinating to witness, especially because they were able to overtake Mercedes, from whom they bought their power units. Though this was a massive blow to Toto Wolff, he was somewhat pleased to see Aston Martin perform well, simply because this proves that Mercedes' power units have potential.

When asked about whether his team could bounce back, Wolff said (via Sky Sports):

"We can [come back], absolutely we can. I think it needs to be much more radical in the steps than hope for a three-tenths upgrade. [Aston Martin] deserve what they have done, they did a good job. The good news for us is there is a lot of Mercedes in there. To pinpoint it, that would be helpful in the recovery."

He explained how Aston Martin's philosophy will indirectly help the Silver Arrows recover and unleash pace from their cars.