23/08/2025 11:00
Mercedes is not shying away from having "honest conversations" with
team members amid an ongoing challenging period on the track. The
Brackley-based squad has endured a difficult run of form under the
current set of technical regulations, which were introduced at the
start of 2022. Having been a consistent championship-winning squad
in the first eight years of the turbo-hybrid era, the current
ground effect cars have proven to be a challenge for the team. This
year, it entered the season with a fresh driver line-up following
the exit of Lewis Hamilton, signing rookie Kimi Antonelli to
replace the seven-time champion. Antonelli has endured a turbulent
run of form of late as Mercedes has slipped back in the order
compared to its early-season position. This has led to open
discussions taking place within the team in an effort to boost
morale. "Every human being responds positively to knowing they have
the support of their team and the belief of their team, and you
know that that group has faith in them," Mercedes team
representative Bradley Lord told select media including
RacingNews365 . "That doesn't stop honest conversations if things
are not hitting objectives and things like that. "I'm not saying
that's the case with Kimi, just talking in general terms. Every
human being responds to that sort of positive feeling of support
and being part of a team and being part of a collective endeavour.
"That's been the case all the way through this first season. It was
the case last season as well, as we were building towards it.
"You've got to not get too lost in the moment and step back and see
this all as part of a learning curve and a development trajectory,
which is what this year is all about." Mercedes rubbish 'crisis
meeting' reports Mercedes has not yet locked in its driver line-up
for the 2026 campaign, and it was widely speculated to be in the
market for Max Verstappen before the reigning champion committed
his immediate future to Red Bull. However, it is now expected to
retain George Russell and Antonelli for next year's campaign.
Questions were raised over the sturdiness of the team amid reports
that a crisis meeting took place with the drivers prior to the
summer break. Lord has dismissed the claim. "We have a quarterly,
what's called driver development meeting, where the drivers and a
broader cross-section of the technical side of the team meet," he
said. "And that was planned and had been planned for many months
for Monday [after the Belgian GP]. "So it happened to coincide
rather than it being a hastily called crisis meeting or everything
else that we've read. "That meeting took place, and rather than
being in the detail of each race weekend, it's a chance every
couple of months for everyone to step back and just take a look at
the evolution performance over a number of races. "So that's what
that was, and that's what took place."
