Mercedes have promised that the team will not make a "knee jerk reaction" to their disappointing start to the 2023 Formula 1 season, in an open letter to fans following Bahrain. The squad finished over 50 seconds behind eventual winner Max Verstappen, as both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell struggled to match the pace of Ferrari and Aston Martin. Hamilton remarked after the race that the W14 was now the "fourth best car" , while Russell believes Red Bull will go on to win every race in 2023 after the Milton Keynes outfit exhibited blistering pace throughout the weekend "Bahrain hurt. It hurt each one of us, who head into every season determined to fight for World Championships," said the team. "It hurt the team as a whole, after pouring so much hard work into a car that hasn’t met our expectations. "We won’t panic or make knee-jerk reactions. In a spotlight as fierce as F1, people are quick to point fingers, or look for scapegoats. "But you know us better than that. Inside the team, we talk about having the courage to fail, the character to be accountable and the strength to see failure as an opportunity."
'No silver bullets in F1'
The team warned that there are "no silver bullets in F1" in the letter, as they moved to reassure fans that developments are in the "pipeline" for the next few races. "We have been open and searingly honest about where we find ourselves," the letter states. "And we are working urgently and calmly to build our recovery plan, focusing on what needs to happen short term, medium term, and long term to win. "We already have developments in the pipeline for the next races – and there will be more to come. But this won’t be the work of a moment; there are no silver bullets in F1." Trackside Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin, has said the team plans to make "radical changes" to the W14 after their autopsy on the 2023 season start began immediately after the Bahrain race. The letter continued: "We’re already hard at work on changing the course of this 2023 season. The recovery began immediately after the race – and everybody has a part to play."
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