"We can throw our car in the trash can": Mercedes boss joins George Russell in accepting defeat to Red Bull 

Mercedes entered the 2023 season with fresh hopes of challenging their arch-rivals Red Bull. However, the season opener dashed all hopes for the German team, as they had the fourth fastest car on Sunday. Team Principal Toto Wolff seems to have already accepted defeat and is willing to bin their car design.

Wolff openly admitted to the team's loss of confidence in their current design. Speaking to ORF radio, the Austrian made a bold statement:

"We can throw our car in the trash can."

The Brackley-based outfit has failed to meet its ambitions for the 2023 season. Last year, the team refocused its efforts to understand the car and make it more competitive for the ongoing season. However, those efforts haven't had the desired results.

Red Bull and Mercedes seem to have taken steps in opposite directions as Wolff believes the defending champions are "miles ahead". Speaking about the team's performance in the season opener, he told Austrian publication OE24:

"With my sporting aspirations, it was bad to see we were behind. We don't want to finish second, we want to win. But there is one team miles ahead. They play with the competition, they don't even have tire wear."

Wolff added that Red Bull are the favorites for every race this year. He said:

"After the first Grand Prix, I also believe that they will win every race this year."

In the season opener, Lewis Hamilton finished the race in fifth position while teammate George Russell finished two places behind. To add to the Silver Arrows' misery, they were outpaced by their customer team, Aston Martin.

In an interview with Servus TV, Wolff revealed the team's ambition to fight for the championship. After the first race, however, he backtracked on his comments and said:

"Yes, but I didn't mean this year. This year that is no longer the case."

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"They did a great job": Mercedes boss praises Aston Martin

After pre-season testing, Aston Martin was the dark horse threatening to breach the gap to the top three teams. The Silverstone team outperformed Mercedes and Ferrari with a podium finish at the Bahrain GP.

Fernando Alonso grabbed his 99th career podium in his debut outing with Aston Martin. Alonso's teammate Lance Stroll finished in sixth position ahead of Russell.

The Mercedes team principal praised Dan Fallows, Technical Director of Aston Martin, for their drastic improvement over the winter, as he said:

"They did a really good job, they hired a Red Bull man who managed to make the car suddenly two seconds faster. A year ago they were 17th and 19th in training. We knew that Alonso was strong and motivated, but even Lance Stroll rode up front with two broken hands and a broken toe. That proves how good the car is. I've never seen such a jump in Formula 1."