Mercedes reveal 'honest conversations' as it endures F1 struggles

Mercedes is not shying away from having “honest conversations” with team members amid an ongoing challenging period on the track.

The Brackley-based squad has endured a difficult run of form under the current set of technical regulations, which were introduced at the start of 2022.

Having been a consistent championship-winning squad in the first eight years of the turbo-hybrid era, the current ground effect cars have proven to be a challenge for the team.

This year, it entered the season with a fresh driver line-up following the exit of Lewis Hamilton, signing rookie Kimi Antonelli to replace the seven-time champion.

Antonelli has endured a turbulent run of form of late as Mercedes has slipped back in the order compared to its early-season position.

This has led to open discussions taking place within the team in an effort to boost morale.

“Every human being responds positively to knowing they have the support of their team and the belief of their team, and you know that that group has faith in them,” Mercedes team representative Bradley Lord told select media including RacingNews365.

“That doesn’t stop honest conversations if things are not hitting objectives and things like that.

“I’m not saying that’s the case with Kimi, just talking in general terms. Every human being responds to that sort of positive feeling of support and being part of a team and being part of a collective endeavour.

“That’s been the case all the way through this first season. It was the case last season as well, as we were building towards it.

“You’ve got to not get too lost in the moment and step back and see this all as part of a learning curve and a development trajectory, which is what this year is all about.”

Mercedes rubbish 'crisis meeting' reports

Mercedes has not yet locked in its driver line-up for the 2026 campaign, and it was widely speculated to be in the market for Max Verstappen before the reigning champion committed his immediate future to Red Bull.

However, it is now expected to retain George Russell and Antonelli for next year's campaign.

Questions were raised over the sturdiness of the team amid reports that a crisis meeting took place with the drivers prior to the summer break.

Lord has dismissed the claim.

“We have a quarterly, what’s called driver development meeting, where the drivers and a broader cross-section of the technical side of the team meet,” he said.

“And that was planned and had been planned for many months for Monday [after the Belgian GP].

“So it happened to coincide rather than it being a hastily called crisis meeting or everything else that we’ve read.

“That meeting took place, and rather than being in the detail of each race weekend, it’s a chance every couple of months for everyone to step back and just take a look at the evolution performance over a number of races.

“So that’s what that was, and that’s what took place.”