"Talking to people in the team..." - Brundle's concerning insight into Mercedes

Mercedes currently have the fourth-fastest car and have openly admitted that they plan to abandon their current car concept.

• “It’s pretty much the same” - Hamilton’s worrying admission about Mercedes

It means that the eight-time world champions could be set for another difficult year.

Speaking on Sky Sports during their live coverage in Jeddah, Brundle spoke about Mercedes’ plight.

“It is very unusual for both Toto [Wolff] and Lewis [Hamilton] to be anything other than super-positive about the Mercedes team,” he said. “They have obviously had an incredible amount of success together.

“But there’s trouble there, isn’t there? The car isn’t fast enough. Talking to a few people in the team, it’s going to be a while before they sort it out.

“The boss is unhappy. He’s the lightning conductor. But you win and lose together.”

Brundle believes it’s going to be “the biggest test” of Toto Wolff’s time in charge of the team.

“This will be the biggest test of Toto’s tenure,” he added. “Despite all the success, it’s about turning this around now. Keeping the right people involved, bringing in fresh energy, not upsetting the others, people will move on.”

“He needs to keep Lewis onboard, he’s got George who is obviously a huge talent for the future..

“I tread carefully when it comes to criticising the management of a team. Red Bull, for example, is a boulevard of activities with thousands of incredibly intelligent people working on racing cars.

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“I am loathe to criticise [teams] because you see the resources, the skills, the knowledge going into it. Maybe it just needs fine-tuning.

“But, you know, it can be avalanche when it goes wrong. Keeping their morale high. Toto wears his heart on his sleeve and he gets angry when he’s not happy.”