‘They are not idiots, they will get it right’: Ross Brawn backs Mercedes to improve before end of F1 season

The team are without a win so far in the 2022 Formula 1 season

Ross Brawn has backed Mercedes to adapt to Formula 1’s new regulations, declaring: “They are not idiots.”

Rule-changes introduced for the 2022 F1 season have seen alterations made to the front and rear wings of cars, as well as to the vehicles’ floors.

Mercedes won the constructors’ championship in 2021 and only missed out on the drivers’ title after a controversial final lap in the last race of the season, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed his first championship. Mercedes have been well off the pace this year, however, but Brawn believes that they will improve.

The F1 managing director, who previously worked as Mercedes’ team prinicipal, discussed the new regulations with F1 Insider and said:

“Basically, I am very satisfied. The cars can follow each other more closely and overtake better as a result. Side-by-side driving has also become easier.

“Before, not many people knew that a car also lost performance there. [Tyre manufacturer] Pirelli has also contributed to the improvement. So, everything has worked well up to this point.

“The fact that some teams were able to implement the new rules better and the others are upset about it is Formula 1 folklore and was planned beforehand. It has hit Mercedes in particular. But they are not idiots, they will get it right.”

Mercedes are without a win from the first 16 races of the 2022 season and have just six more grands prix to earn one.

F1 managing director Ross Brawn previously worked as Mercedes’ team prinicipal (Getty Images)

The team have, however, secured 13 podium places so far this year, with Lewis Hamilton having achieved two second-placed finishes and four third places, while teammate and fellow Briton George Russell has finished second once and third on six occasions.

Next up is the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday (2 October), when Verstappen can win his second straight F1 title.

The 24-year-old denied Hamilton an eighth drivers’ championship at the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP last year. A title there would have seen Hamilton go one clear of joint-record holder Michael Schumacher.