Mercedes handed 'asses kicked' judgment after F1 revival

Former F1 race engineer Rob Smedley has stated Mercedes getting their “assess kicked” during the ground effect era has played a role in its current run of strong form.

Mercedes has emerged from the gates at the start of the 2026 campaign as the runaway leaders, taking three wins from the opening three rounds.

Its ability to consistently run at the front of the field is a far cry from the 2022-2025 seasons, when it was unable to carry over the form that saw it dominate during the early years of the turbo-hybrid era.

Smedley, who worked with the Mercedes-powered Williams team, could sense complacency creeping into the squad during its successful years.

“I was reasonably close to Mercedes, because we had the Mercedes engine at Williams in their last period of dominance,” Smedley told the High Performance Podcast.

“Towards the end, there was perhaps a little bit of self-assuredness there in Mercedes that didn't need to be there.

“They'd won all these world championships. I know what this is like, because I remember it at Ferrari.

“You start to feel like you are you can dominate anything. That's when it gets really dangerous.

“I just noticed bits and pieces of that creeping in when you would talk to them.

“I think a period of - and I know they won't mind me saying this - getting your ass kicked does you the world of good.”

Mercedes setback offered 'humility' across the team

Mercedes endured various problems at the start of the sport's regulation change in 2022 and was suffering significantly from porpoising.

It was also unable to develop itself out of its aerodynamic issues, with Red Bull and eventually McLaren moving to the head of the pecking order.

Smedley stated it served as a reality check for Mercedes, who then put focus on returning to the head of the order at the next change of regulations.

“You think you are the kings of the world and you're going to dominate this sport forever,” he said. “And then you go through this really fallow period.

“You don’t know how to get out and that gives you a lot of humility.

“That resets the whole baseline, and you realise that you're all not walking like six inches above the ground, you’re all not gods, you’re all not who you thought you were.

“You’ve now had your asses kicked, so now it's feet on the ground, humility, heads down, start working.”