Mercedes publishes open letter amidst Hamilton to Ferrari rumors
Mercedes Formula 1 team has published an open letter to their fans after their disappointing performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton finished P5 and George Russell could only claim P7.
The Silver Arrows were outshone by their customer team Aston Martin, who may have built a car worthy of taking a title fight to Red Bull and Max Verstappen, F1 Nerds reported.
The seven-time World Champion wasn’t impressed, revealing that Mercedes didn’t listen to him when he told them what the car needed.
“Last year, I told them the issues that are with the car,” he said on the BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast.
“I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn’t need.
“I think it’s really about accountability, it’s about owning up and saying ‘yeah, you know what, we didn’t listen to you, it’s not where it needs to be and we’ve got to work’.”
The open letter, from the eight-time World Champions acknowledges the team’s pain after pouring so much hard work into a car that hasn’t met their expectations.
“Bahrain hurt. It hurt each one of us, who head into every season determined to fight for world championships,” the letter reads.
“And we know it hurt you, our fans, too. Your passion and support are so important in driving us forward – and we know that we feel the same pain.”
The letter goes on to address the situation the team currently finds themselves in, emphasizing that they will not panic or make knee-jerk reactions. Instead, they will work urgently and calmly to build their recovery plan, focusing on what needs to happen in the short, medium, and long term to win.
“In a spotlight as fierce as F1, people are quick to point fingers, or look for scapegoats. But you know us better than that,” the letter continues.
“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. We have been open and searingly honest about where we find ourselves. 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,” the letter highlighted.