We are moving away from how we laid out the chassis, the weight distribution, the airflow, literally every component has been changed because only by doing that do we have a chance. We took the decision in April to go back to the drawing board and come up with something different for next year. Wolff continued: “We had to be honest that this car was never going to be good enough to fight for a world championship. Hamilton and Mercedes will hope a brand new design will fire them back to winning ways following their no-sidepod flop abandoned on the eve of the opening race in Bahrain. “We have a lot of respect for their achievements – from the engineering side, and the driver – and beating them under the current regulations is against the odds. “Red Bull started the new regulations in 2022 with a massive advantage and they have been able to maintain it.

But it is clear if you have a car like we have now, you are not at ease with it. “If we are able to give him a car, he will be fighting for a world championship. But that doesn’t do anything on him being the greatest driver in the world. Picking up the baton, Wolff added: “From Lewis’ perspective, he had a bad weekend. “Red Bull won by 17 seconds today, and haven’t touched the car since July or August, so you can pretty much guess where they’re going to be next year,” said a despondent Hamilton.

Last season, Mercedes were 244 points behind the world champions. They finished an eye-watering 413 points behind Red Bull, who have long since turned their focus to next year’s machine. However, it marked a second straight season without a victory for Hamilton – a losing streak which now stands at 45 races – and Mercedes’ first winless campaign in a dozen years.

Had Perez outscored Russell, Mercedes and Ferrari would have been tied, with the Prancing Horse second in the team standings by virtue of Carlos Sainz’s win in Singapore.īut following Perez’s sanction, Mercedes ended the campaign three points clear of Ferrari to land a £105million reward, rather than £95m. Lewis Hamilton finished ninth in the other black-liveried machine.

But, mercifully for Mercedes, the Mexican driver was demoted to fourth following a five-second penalty for a collision with Lando Norris.įerrari’s Charles Leclerc was elevated to second with Mercedes’ George Russell third. The Dutchman, taking his 19th win from 22 rounds, finished 17 seconds clear of team-mate Sergio Perez. Mercedes clung on to second place in the constructors’ championship by the skin of their teeth – and a £10million cash boost – as Verstappen ended the most dominant season in Formula One history with another victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

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