“Something changing” at Mercedes; “technical director can’t change his mind”

Team principal Toto Wolff admitted before the first race of 2023 that the concept of the W14 must be reconsidered, Lewis Hamilton insisted he became aware of its problems when he first drove it, and George Russell explained that new ideas are already being worked on to develop the below-par machine.

But ex-F1 driver Schumacher, whose brother Michael Schumacher ended his legendary career at Mercedes and whose nephew Mick Schumacher is currently their third driver, predicts significant changes in personnel within the team.

• F1 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Friday Practice Results

“There has to be a dispute,” he told Formel1.de ahead of the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

“Somehow the technical director must have managed to convince Toto Wolff that the full strength of the concept can be played out. And Toto, what should he do? He has to believe in his technical team.”

Schumacher said about Bahrain: “The tension was clear to see."

And he said about structural changes within Mercedes: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the pecking order changes now. That also happened at Aston Martin. Andrew Green was transferred, they got [Dan Fallows] from Red Bull.

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“And now something is going to happen at Mercedes.

“Because, I’ll say it again, with a technical director who believes that a concept works and pulls so hard for it, you can’t change your mind overnight. It’s problematic.

“My feeling is that something is changing.”

Mercedes have repeatedly insisted they have a 'no-blame culture', with Russell explaining: “When it comes to car concepts, when it comes to decisions of where a team of 2000 people are going to be heading, it’s never one person directing that.”