What did the Mercedes director mean when he said "throw away an awful lot of baby along with a small amount of bathwater"?

Mercedes director James Allison feels the team taking the route of a complete revamp would be akin to 'throwing away an awful lot of baby along with a small amount of bathwater". That means squandering significant benefits while making minimal gains.

Mercedes have not had the best time with the ground effect cars since their inception last season. Their only win came with George Russell last season, and they have had only pole position as well.

Even this season. things don't look good, as the car is just too far behind Red Bull. However, Allison, back from a self-imposed hiatus, does not think a complete overhaul is the way to go about things at Mercedes. When asked on the same at the Azerbaijan GP press conference in Baku on Sunday, Allison said:

"I don't think any of us would ever consider a wholesale revamp clean sheet, a good or prosperous approach. If the rules change, then of course, you have to change with them. But engineering is about iteration. And in all likelihood, if you tear things up, you are going to … I’m going to mix metaphors horrifically here … but you are going to just throw away an awful lot of baby along with a small amount of bathwater."

He added:

"Because all of these cars, from the top to the bottom of the grid, are unbelievably good cars. It’s merely a question of how competitive are you? Are you the best in the whole world?

"And necessarily, you are going to use the platform you have, and you're going to choose the paths forward that allow it to get better in the fastest possible way. And almost never – in fact, never – would you ever tear things up and say ‘enough with that, let’s change and do something completely different.

---

Mercedes off to rough start to 2023 season

Mercedes are off to a rough start in 2023, bagging only podium in four races. Arguably one of the reasons behind that's happening is Red Bull's superiority over the rest of the field. Because of that, both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are a shoo-in for the podium.

The German team did manage a podium in Australia, but in Baku, they were leapfrogged by Ferrari. For a team that dominated the sport from 2014 to 2021, this is a very different situation, as things are just not working for them.

Mercedes have taken up the challenge with both hands and will hope to get back to the front soon.