A developing subplot around Mercedes' struggles is the future of Hamilton, and his designs on becoming the sport's first driver to win eight world championships.

Mercedes has full faith in its recent strategic decisions, says Burzer. “We are very closely connected to China on the product and market side, and of course we are a promoter of global trade.” These decisions include its push towards more electric vehicles and “preparing products for the future and according to market conditions in China and the US, and our ‘luxury’ strategy”, Burzer says. Nonetheless, Wolff said that in each case it was not clear why the race had been stopped and he echoed Russell’s opinion that alternatives were available. “Both red flags we didn’t see coming,” he said. “Restarts are a great entertainment factor, but we need to understand going forward when a red flag is being put out and when it is a safety car or a VSC. For those incidents you could have applied either.Mercedes have opted to celebrate by running a ‘Pride Star’ emblem on both their W13 challenger and Hamilton and George Russell’s helmets for the next three Grands Prix, as part of their wider ‘Accelerate 25’ programme, with Hamilton – who earlier this week wished a “Happy Pride” to his social media followers – revealing what the move meant to him. Mercedes are celebrating Pride Month by running a special rainbow emblem on their cars for the Azerbaijan, Canadian and British Grands Prix – with driver Lewis Hamilton saying he is ‘really proud’ of the initiative. The chart below shows free air races with no influence from traffic or car pace. It simply shows the difference in race time though tyre selection and stop lap. Meanwhile, F1 and the teams have reached provisional agreement to change the format for the six sprint races this season, with the first to be held at the next round in Azerbaijan.

With Mercedes having made a poor start to the season, Sky F1's Naomi Schiff contemplates whether Hamilton will ever win a record eighth world title Data on electrical consumption and range are provisional and were determined internally in accordance with the “WLTP test procedure” certification method. So far there are no confirmed figures from an officially approved testing organisation, nor any EC type approval or certificate of conformity with official figures. Differences between the stated figures and the official figures are possible.Germany’s largest manufacturers, including Mercedes and the other carmakers, have enjoyed booming sales in China, while the country’s Mittelstand of small and medium-sized engineering companies have powered Chinese production. INEOS already has a wide sports portfolio with interests in athletics, cycling, football and the America’s Cup yacht race and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said the company is a natural fit for his team. One scenario, which sources say the team is open-minded to, could be in abandoning the work coming for the Imola upgrade and instead embark on the new concept work immediately. It would mean some short term pain, but long term gain. Meanwhile, Mercedes also sent an open letter to their fans which said they were "working urgently and calmly to build our recovery plan", but would not "panic, make knee-jerk reactions, or look for scapegoats". Is Hamilton's Mercedes future in doubt?

However, after a frustrating weekend his post-race claims that the team "didn't listen" to him regarding concerns over the W14, reignited speculation as to whether he could consider what once seemed an unthinkable move away from Mercedes. The shift in the country’s diplomatic approach has been perhaps more seismic. Putin’s war has prompted the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to effectively break with the decades-long approach of Wandel durch Handel: the belief that social and political change in other countries can be brought about by trade. Sky F1's Ted Kravitz explains why Mercedes could abandon their current concept and opt for a 'Plan B' following their disappointing performance in Bahrain Furthermore, this new partnership is an important cornerstone of our future plans in Formula One. It once again serves to demonstrate the attraction of the sport for ambitious, global brands with a long-term vision for success." Lewis Hamilton was clearly in pain getting out of his car after his Mercedes suffered more porpoising issues last year in Azerbaijan, prompting Toto Wolff to apologise to himFormula One is so successful because it is sport and we follow the rulebook and that gives great entertainment, as long as it is clear how it is being interpreted. Whether you call a VSC or a safety car or you red‑flag it, as long as we understand in terms of us being able to plan and in having the same rules for everyone, then that is OK.” But those changes take time to turn into a faster solution in the wind tunnel - you can't do them overnight. There is quite a lot of development that you've got to do around any sort of big change in geometry in that area. In addition, Mercedes lost the head of their mechanical engineering division, Ben Hodgkinson, to Red Bull last year as their rivals went on an aggressive recruitment drive for their new powertrains division, which saw around 15 other employees make the move. There was concern at pre-season testing as the second of the three days saw Hamilton struggle for balance in the morning before Russell broke down with a hydraulic issue in the later session, but a better final day saw some positivity retained. But Mercedes and the country’s wider economy now stand at a crossroads. Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted a race to find new energy supplies amid sanctions and Russia’s throttling of gas pipelines – a crisis that has already forced Germany to extend the life of its three remaining nuclear power plants.

for showing your flags and banners and are much more long-lasting and professional-looking than every It is a very proud moment for us to welcome INEOS to Mercedes in their new capacity as principal partner. The company's ambition, dynamism and entrepreneurial flair are a perfect fit for the spirit of Mercedes-AMG Petronas,” he said.The three-way agreement between the members of the country’s ruling coalition – Scholz’s SPD, the Greens and the Free Democrats – has labelled the relationship with China a “systematic rivalry”. It also refers to human rights issues and Taiwan, as well as the need for economic diversification. Teams were required to submit a final design of their power units before the start of the 2022 season, with changes only allowed to be made to improve reliability or safety. Frustratingly for Mercedes, their hopes of challenging for titles this season already appear to be extremely low, and the question for many is whether they can rebuild for the 2024 campaign. Given the gap to the front, of course we are going to look at bigger departures and more radical changes," Shovlin said.