Andrew Shovlin admits Mercedes has a lot of work to do to catch up: "We know that's not good enough"

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin stated that the team recognized that they had a lot of work to do to compete against their rivals in 2023.

The German team did not start the season as they had hoped at the Bahrain GP, finishing P5 and P7 with Lewis Hamilton leading George Russell. The former world champions were even outpaced by their customer team Aston Martin F1, who finished on the podium alongside Red Bull.

During their post-race debrief on YouTube, Shovlin stated that the team is focused on working together to resolve their issues. He said:

"I think, to be honest, is seeing how well the team has worked together. It's a very difficult start to the year and after the season we had in 2022, we certainly didn't wish for this sort of challenging start. But everyone's very quick to acknowledge the problem."

"We know that we've got a tough journey ahead of us but we're committed to improving the car and getting back in front. The drivers are very much on board with that. They've worked very well together to try and help us develop and improve the car.

He added:

"It's nice just to see how everyone is so honest about the challenges ahead of us and everyone's committed to finding solutions because we're not happy with our current performance and we know that's not good enough but we will be doing everything we can to improve."

"I know what a car needs" - Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton

After the Bahrain GP, Lewis Hamilton criticized Mercedes for not listening to his input regarding the 2023 challenger W14.

Speaking to BBC Live, Hamilton said:

"Last year, there were things I told them, I said the issues that are with the car. I've driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs and I know what a car doesn't. And 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 used to be and we've got to work.'"

It will be fascinating to see how Mercedes can turn their season around amid reports of Wolff calling for 'radical changes' to be made to the car. Hopefully, the upgrades will help the team get closer to their competition and make them a contender for podiums later in the season.