Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has hinted that the team will speed up its development programme, starting with pushing through a number of updates earlier than expected for the Chinese Grand Prix.
The move is in response to Ferrari’s shock win in Malaysia, which saw Sebastian Vettel finish almost ten seconds ahead of second placed Lewis Hamilton who simply had no answer for the German’s pace.
That put Vettel within three points of the championship lead and it seems to unsettled the Mercedes camp which, just two weeks earlier, dominated the Australian Grand Prix.
“We just need to analyse in the next couple of days where we went wrong, what we need to improve, whether we need to bring any developments forward, put them on the car quicker, what we are doing about engine number two. And assess that properly,” Wolff is quoted as saying by The Telegraph.
“But definitely, we need to increase the pace of our development. We have everything we need. We feel confident in the resources we have, and that we are well placed.”
The Austrian says the lost victory is no cause for concern and even suggested it was good to have closer competition for the season ahead.
“We just need to stay calm. Maybe take some things earlier on the car than we planned, but there is no reason to panic,” he added.
“We are back into a regular racing season where you have more than just one contender. We are back to normal business.”
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