(Motorsport) Having won eight consecutive Constructors Championship (from 2014 to 2021), few would have predicted that Mercedes would struggle as they have in the 2022 season. With Red Bull and Ferrari dominating every Grand Prix so far, it’s fair to say that Mercedes are already out of the title race and the best that they can hope for is third place in the 2022 Constructors Championship. A testament to how far behind they are is that seven time World Champion Lewis Hamilton has openly claimed that the car has had absolutely no improvements despite data from five races and upgrades ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.

Amidst the struggles, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has not ruled out the possibility of switching to an older car concept which is much slower on paper. The car first made its debut in Barcelona before the season began and has displayed much more consistent results in terms of pace as compared to the current car that is being used. Currently, the team are struggling to deal with violent bouncing of their car on track and the issue is not reflecting in their simulations, making it even harder to solve the problem. After the race in Miami, Toto Wolff said “I wouldn't discount anything. But we need to give all of our people that have produced great race cars in the past the benefit of the doubt and we believe this is the route to go."

Hamilton, who is the most successful Formula 1 driver in history has grown frustrated of playing catch-up in this season, having not been accustomed to that role since joining the Silver Arrows. The British racing driver has claimed that despite the upgrades being implemented in the W13, the car has not improved and isn’t competitive enough to challenge the likes of Red Bull and Mercedes. When asked if Mercedes had taken a step forward in Miami, Hamilton said: "Unfortunately not. We're the same speed as we were in the first race and we just haven't improved in these five races. But I'm hopeful at some stage we will. We just have to keep trying and keep working hard." 

Meanwhile, young Mercedes driver George Russell has expressed his faith in the current car and that it's only a matter of time before they are back on top of the grid. The 24 year old said “We showed on Friday we have a fast car, there is a fast car there and I have total faith and confidence it is in there somewhere and we just need to understand how to unlock it. I think we can find chunks and chunks and chunks of lap time if we just find that killer key to get it in that perfect spot. I am not sure if that will be next race but the guys are working day and night back at the factory to find the solution and we all believe we can so we have got to stick to our guns, keep pushing down this direction and it is going to be a number of races before we say we need to go a different way, but I believe in them."

Also read: Verstappen wins Miami GP while Leclerc and Sainz finish on the podium