Mercedes plan major overhaul of Lewis Hamilton's 2023 F1 car after just ONE race

Mercedes' drivers Hamilton and George Russell finished fifth and seventh in Bahrain and changes are likely to be made - and could even be visible in Saudi Arabia this weekend

Mercedes are considering "radical changes" to their W14 car after a disappointing performance in the 2023 F1 season opener in Bahrain.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished fifth and seventh respectively in the first race of the campaign, with the former world champion later claiming his concerns were ignored during the development of the car.

Team principal Toto Wolff has admitted changes will be needed if Mercedes are to have any chance of challenging Red Bull and Ferrari this season, as focus now switches to Saudi Arabia this weekend.

And Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has confirmed there will be 'visible' differences to the W14 in the next few races on the calendar.

"Given the gap to the front, of course we are going to look at bigger departures and more radical changes. But those changes take time to turn into a faster solution in the wind tunnel – you can't do them overnight," he told Formula1.com.

"Clearly, we've got something that's not in the right place that we need to work on, but ultimately the other thing is that performance gap to the front. The raw pace of the car is not good enough.

"Of course, we are looking at where we can improve the car, we are looking for potential to develop and you will see visible changes coming on the car over the next few races.

"We are working very hard at the moment to understand what we can do in the short-term future and in the mid-term future to try and get ourselves in a better place."

Hamilton finished 50.9 seconds behind world champion Max Verstappen in Bahrain and speculation remains rife over his future, with his current deal expiring at the end of the season. But the Brit insists performances on the track will not dictate what happens next.

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He added: "I have been supported by Mercedes since I was 13. Having the difficult year we had last year, I’m still here, and whether or not we have a difficult year this year, I’ll still be here.

“I’m a fighter and we fight as a team. I love the challenge of finding solutions and I still believe I’m able to put the car in places that perhaps others are not able to – and I love that challenge."