"It’s unusual for a lot of guys on the team" - Former F1 world champion says Mercedes 'need to lose sometimes'

Mercedes not being in the winners’ circle consistently in 2022 must be unusual for a lot of the Silver Arrows, according to former F1 driver-turned-analyst Jenson Button.

The 2009 F1 world champion feels this tough phase Mercedes are going through will help build character and strengthen personnel after nearly a decade of dominance.

During an interview with the New York Post, the Briton said:

“It’s unusual for a lot of guys on the team, it’s the first time they haven’t been winning. [But] it’s going to be good for their careers. You need to lose sometimes, it strengthens you as a person, you learn a lot as well.”

Button also commented on Lewis Hamilton's tough start to the 2022 season and predicted his compatriot will be competitive again with Mercedes. Button went on to add, saying:

“He’s had a couple of bad races, we all have it in our career. At the moment he’s finding it tough, and people are saying he’s not doing as good a job as his team-mate. He’s not lost it since last season when he was winning races. He’s a seven-time World Champion — almost eight — he will keep fighting as long as he wants to. If he wants to be competitive, he will be competitive. He’s so important to that team, he has so much experience, and he knows how to develop a car.”

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"It’s just the normal rate of change" - Toto Wolff disagrees that Mercedes' struggles are down to brain drain

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff does not agree with the theory that his Silver Arrows have been blunted by a brain drain from their factories.

Mercedes have seen a mass exodus from the factories in Brackley and Brixworth, with Red Bull and Ferrari both poaching members from Wolff's side. The Austrian, however, merely sees this as 'a normal cycle'. In an interview carried by motorsport.com, he said:

“It’s just the normal cycle. Ross [Brawn] left, then Paddy [Lowe] left. We won six championships after that, or seven. Then James Allison came in, and there’s a lot of others who aren’t front and centre. Then Andy [Cowell] retired. But meanwhile, all the young guys are coming up, and they’ve been the decision-makers at the operational level time and time again, as far as the cars in the last few years are concerned. We haven’t lost anyone where I think to myself today: ‘That was really, really counterproductive!’ It’s just the normal rate of change.”

The Silver Arrows are currently third in the constructors' championship standings and look to be struggling for pace when compared to Ferrari and Red Bull. They have, however, been one of the most reliable teams this season, having finished every lap of the first four races of the season.