Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that in order for the field to catch Red Bull the regulations may have to be changed again, unless every team can “do a better job”.
Red Bull have dominated the sport since the introduction of the new aerodynamic regulations last season, with the Milton Keynes-based side having won 21 of the 26 completed races since the start of 2022.
As things stand, their superiority looks set to continue, with the Austrians having already claimed three 1-2 finishes from the first four races of the 2023 season.
Mercedes will be hoping that their new concept in Imola will at least put a dent in Red Bull’s advantage, with many seeing the Germans’ new concept as the final hope for a competitive season.
Want to work in Formula 1? Browse the latest F1 job vacancies
Despite this, Wolff is aware that the Silver Arrows won’t suddenly “drive circles around Red Bull”, with the Austrian wanting expectations to be managed.
“We are talking so much about the upgrade but we are not going to put it down on the track and drive circles around Red Bull,” Wolff said.
Red Bull’s domination did result in an incredibly boring Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend, where only 23 overtakes took place.
Wolff is quick to note, though, that Red Bull shouldn’t be blamed for the uneventful racing simply for having mastered the current regulations, something which the Germans did in the opening years of the turbo-hybrid era.
With that in mind, Wolff doesn’t think the regulations should be changed to catch Red Bull, unless they continue to go “off into the sunset”.
“It’s about asking ourselves why it wasn’t entertaining,” Wolff added.
“We basically have two cars that are sailing off into the sunset on merit. So we either have to do a better job, all of us together, to catch them up, or we have to change the regulations.
“And I don’t think we should be doing the second. We have to win on merit and that means being more clever.”
READ: Fernando Alonso trying to help Lance Stroll
One of the reasons for the uneventful racing currently is that following another car has become incredibly difficult once again, unless your Sergio Perez or Max Verstappen.
When using DRS, Verstappen and Perez were unbelievably fast down the 2.2km main straight in Baku, whilst the others were all “stuck” in a DRS train.
“If you’re stuck in traffic, that’s it,” admitted Wolff. “None of us have a DRS as powerful as Red Bull’s.”