Mercedes ‘hold emergency meeting’ after disastrous F1 season opener as Lewis Hamilton slams car’s issues in Bahrain GP
MERCEDES have reportedly held an emergency meeting following their disastrous start to the F1 season.
Red Bull dominated in Bahrain with Max Verstappen taking the chequered flag and team-mate Sergio Perez finishing second.
Mercedes were way off the pace with Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finishing fifth and seventh respectively.
That led to a team meeting according to reports in Italy.
It is claimed technical director Mike Elliot was handed an ultimatum and told to fix the issues with the W14.
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has admitted his team already face a difficult task to catch up with their rivals, and accepts a title challenge may be impossible.
He is also stuck between developing the W14 or scrapping the car and coming up with a new design capable of competing with Red Bull.
Hamilton urged his team to try and develop the current model into a car capable of winning races, though he also vented his frustrations with his team after they failed to listen to his advice.
He said: “Last year, there were things I told them, I said the issues that are with the car.
“I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn’t need. And I think it’s really about accountability.
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“It’s about owning up and saying, ‘Yeah, you know what? We didn’t listen to you. It’s not where it used to be and we’ve got to work’.
“We’ve got to look into the balance through the corners, look at all the weak points and just huddle up as a team, that’s what we do.
“We’re still multi world champions you know, it’s just they haven’t got it right this time, they didn’t get it right last year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get it right moving forwards.”