After a long period of dominance in the sport, 2022 ended up being a grim season for Mercedes in Formula 1. But nothing could have prepared them for what the 2023 season opener in Bahrain had in store for them. Pre-season testing had already given us a hint that Aston Martin had made significant improvements to their 2022 car. But it wasn’t until the first race that the strides they had made were visible. Toto Wolff‘s world seemingly came to a stop when Fernando Alonso not only qualified ahead of both the Mercedes in P5 but then snatched the 3rd place from Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages of the race on Sunday only to be then dropped to 5th by the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.

To make matters worse, Lance Stroll also overtook George Russell in the closing laps to take away 6th place from the Brit. What was alarming about the situation was that Aston Martin was at the time and still remains a customer team of Mercedes. They purchase major components like the Power Unit, Gearbox, and Rear suspension from the Brackley squad. So to get beaten by a customer team must have been a huge wake-up call for Mercedes.

Toto Wolff called Aston Martin’s performance “radical” after Bahrain 2023

What unfolded in Bahrain was a difficult pill to swallow for Toto Wolff not just because Fernando Alonso beat Lewis Hamilton on merit, but also because their struggles meant that they faced the risk of pushing the 7-time champion towards retirement as he was in his last year of contract at the time. The 6th Season of the much-awaited ‘Drive To Survive’ documentary just got released on Netflix today, and Toto’s reaction to getting beaten by the Aston’s in 2023 was not surprising at all.

In the first episode of the series, Netflix shows Toto Wolff’s disbelief as he saw the 2023 Bahrain GP unfold from the garage. “We need a postmortem here because this is incomprehensible for me,” said the boss man. After the race, Wolff described Aston Martin’s performance as radical while hoping to bounce back as soon as possible.

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“It’s just radical,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1. “They deserve to be where they are because they did a fantastic job. The good news is that there is a lot of Mercedes in there, so we know exactly where to pinpoint it. That will be helpful in the recovery.” Even Hamilton was shocked at how a team that uses half their parts and uses their wind tunnel could leap ahead so much.

Wind the clock forward a year, and we’re back to the start of the 2024 season with pre-season testing about to conclude in an hour. But the situation at Mercedes is a lot more different from what it was last year.

Mercedes finds itself looking for a replacement for Lewis Hamilton

Even before Mercedes could launch their 2024 challenger, Ferrari shocked the Brackley squad by announcing that Lewis Hamilton had signed a contract with them for 2025 and beyond. Even Toto Wolff admitted that he got the news from Hamilton just a day before the official announcement. While Hamilton still has a season with Mercedes before he goes to Maranello, Wolff has a huge task on his hands to find a worthy replacement.

With their reputation, Mercedes should have quite a few options readily available to them, both from their junior ranks and from the current grid. Names like Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and Carlos Sainz, have all been linked to the coveted seat in 2025, but filling the shoes of the 7-time world champion won’t be an easy job.

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