Coulthard: 'Mercedes has never had to struggle like this before'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
David Coulthard thinks Mercedes has suffered from its own success. Quoted by Speedweek Coulthard explained that, in his opinion, Mercedes is currently in such bad shape because it has not really had to make an effort to achieve success in recent years.
Mercedes is the most successful team of this century. From 2014 to 2021, the team won the drivers' title seven times and the constructors' title eight times. For a long time, the question was not whether Mercedes would win, but more who could give them a bit of a hard time. In 2022 and 2023, however, there seems to be nothing left of that form.
Mercedes is weighed down by its own success
According to Coulthard, Mercedes has become too complacent because of its successful years. "For me, this is a typical case of success being a bad teacher," explained the former F1 driver. "When you win so many races, everyone praises you to the skies and it is easy to think: 'We are really brilliant'. Now they have to find their way in tougher waters, because they didn't really know anything like that before."
However, Coulthard did want to make it clear that he does not want to write Mercedes off completely just yet. According to him, there really is still some fighting spirit in the team. "Let's not forget: this is the team that has been able to fight until the last race in 2021."