Mercedes Chief Throws Shade At "Copycat" Aston Martin: "Find Our Own Identity"

Toto Wolff has spoken about the next phase for Mercedes.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has made it clear that the team won't be seeking inspiration from Aston Martin to solve their recent performance woes. While the eight-time Constructors' champions had a tough start to the season, Wolff is convinced that they must focus on their "own identity" in Formula 1.

According to Wolff, the team has already identified where they went wrong, and now it's about refining their car in order to catch up to the likes of Aston Martin and Red Bull. Speaking to RacingNews365, Wolff said: 

"It's important that we find our own identity, which we did. And now it's about knowledge."

While Aston Martin's AMR23 machine has the same rear-end as the Mercedes W14, Wolff believes that copying their customer team's solutions isn't the answer. Instead, the team will abandon their zero sidepod concept on the W14 in favour of a revised design after admitting they got things wrong. Wolff explained:

"We haven't spent enough time on looking where they find performance because it is important that we find our own identity.

"Maybe now it's only the second step in saying how can we refine our car in order to catch up [to Aston Martin and Red Bull]."

Wolff believes that looking closely at the performance of their rivals and identifying what they may be missing is the way forward. Speaking before the Jeddah race, Wolff said that the strong performance in the race did not mask the team's problems. 

"We'd rather take the small golden trophy than none, but as you say, the direct competitors are very far away in terms of performance."

Despite the challenges, the team remains positive about their development heading in the right direction. Wolff said:

"We've seen [in the race], that our development is heading in the way we want it to."

Only time will tell if their approach pays off, but for now, fans can look forward to seeing the team in action as they continue to push forward in the 2023 season.