Verstappen declared the situation a “mess” of the FIA’s own making and noted he could not understand why a safety car or a virtual safety car (VSC) had not been used instead of a red flag. Similarly, George Russell called the red flags unnecessary and McLaren’s Lando Norris implied the FIA was making decisions in an attempt to improve the show. The reduced degradation and extended tyre life resulted in the optimum race strategy changing from the pre-race prediction of a medium and hard plan, to a soft and medium combination. The failure of diplomatic policy towards Moscow has also prompted much soul-searching in Germany over its choice of business partners, with questions now being raised over the wisdom of its reliance on China. It was therefore a major surprise when it became clear they had been caught out by the new regulations and were suffering - more than any other team - with porpoising, a bouncing phenomenon that was an unexpected consequence of the way the 2022 cars had been designed under the new rules.

His predecessor, Angela Merkel, has come under fire for Germany’s diplomatic failures, but refuses to criticise the decision to facilitate even greater Russian gas supplies through the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, halted by Scholz just before the Kremlin’s troops poured into Ukraine. Nonetheless, Wolff said that in each case it was not clear why the race had been stopped and he echoed Russell’s opinion that alternatives were available. “Both red flags we didn’t see coming,” he said. “Restarts are a great entertainment factor, but we need to understand going forward when a red flag is being put out and when it is a safety car or a VSC. For those incidents you could have applied either. While just about every team suffered to some level, Mercedes' issues were the most severe, and heavily impacted the performance of their W13, along with the comfort of their drivers. Meanwhile, F1 and the teams have reached provisional agreement to change the format for the six sprint races this season, with the first to be held at the next round in Azerbaijan.Last month, accompanied by a high-powered economic delegation, Scholz was the first western leader to be granted a state visit to China since the outbreak of Covid and Xi Jinping’s moves to strengthen his power. Mercedes is less dependent on these supplies than some of Germany’s energy-intensive industries, notably steelmakers, pharmaceutical companies and chemicals producers such as BASF, which said in October it would permanently “downsize” its European operations. However, the carmaker still relies on gas for certain production processes, particularly in its foundries.

But Mercedes and the country’s wider economy now stand at a crossroads. Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted a race to find new energy supplies amid sanctions and Russia’s throttling of gas pipelines – a crisis that has already forced Germany to extend the life of its three remaining nuclear power plants. INEOS already has a wide sports portfolio with interests in athletics, cycling, football and the America’s Cup yacht race and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said the company is a natural fit for his team. Meanwhile, Mercedes also sent an open letter to their fans which said they were "working urgently and calmly to build our recovery plan", but would not "panic, make knee-jerk reactions, or look for scapegoats". Is Hamilton's Mercedes future in doubt?

Aston Martin data point 

We just need to define what it is,” Wolff said. “Restarts are mega, but when they come as a surprise and you can’t really understand then maybe not so much. I am generally in favour of making great entertainment, but the rulebook of the sport is the key DNA so let us define together what is a safety car, what is a VSC and what is a red flag.” Pride Month is held in June, and focuses on raising awareness and celebrating the work of the LGBTQ+ community. Damon Hill believes Mercedes may have got their 2023 concept fundamentally wrong, and will struggle to close the gap on Red Bull this season

And that decision will have to be made now because the architecture and the layout and the concept of the car will get signed off by April for all the teams. So in the next couple of races, they have to make the decision on whether to abandon the concept and go with a whole new concept for next year." The three-way agreement between the members of the country’s ruling coalition – Scholz’s SPD, the Greens and the Free Democrats – has labelled the relationship with China a “systematic rivalry”. It also refers to human rights issues and Taiwan, as well as the need for economic diversification. Given the gap to the front, of course we are going to look at bigger departures and more radical changes," Shovlin said. Olaf Scholz has had to break with Germany’s policy of ‘change through trade’. Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images Mercedes are celebrating Pride Month by running a special rainbow emblem on their cars for the Azerbaijan, Canadian and British Grands Prix – with driver Lewis Hamilton saying he is ‘really proud’ of the initiative.READ MORE: Red Bull and Ferrari are ‘too far ahead' says Russell as Mercedes end Friday practice looking for pace Sky F1's Ted Kravitz explains why Mercedes could abandon their current concept and opt for a 'Plan B' following their disappointing performance in Bahrain