Damon Hill says Red Bull's current performance edge over Mercedes has exposed the "vulnerability" of the German outfit, which is now frantically searching for pace that may not be there.
Mercedes has been outscored by Red Bull by 66 points in the last three races, thanks in large part to the Milton Keynes team's successive triumphs in Baku and in France.
From hunted, Mercedes has now slipped into the role of the hunter. But Hill is perceiving a change of composure at the Brackley squad and wonders how the reigning would champions will safeguard their balance moving forward if they continue to be dominated by their arch-rival.
"I think the thing that's interesting me, and I think that will become very interesting as a story as we go through this year, is what is going to happen to this harmonious Mercedes team as we get further down the line," Hill said on the F1 Nation podcast.
"Because we know that Christian... there's no love loss with any of his competitors with Christian Horner. He's quite happy to rib them when it goes wrong. And there were a few tetchy moments even before this weekend.
"But I think the Mercedes looked a little bit off balance this weekend [in France] and a little bit concerned in a way that I've never seen them as a team before.
"And if you say that, Lewis, he looked kind of content with his job, but he didn't seem so concerned, if you like, that his team seemed to be scratching the head or admitting errors on the radio during the race and that they're a bit baffled as to as to how they've got overtaken."
Like others, Hill was puzzled by Mercedes' chassis swap at Paul Ricard, which the team said had always been planned.
But Hill viewed the permutation as perhaps a sign that Mercedes is frantically searching to retrieve some speed that may no longer be there.
"When form changes, for example, when Lewis is having a bad day, that doesn't fit the pattern," explained the 1996 F1 world champion.
'Lewis is is quicker than Valtteri Bottas but Valtteri Bottas is going quicker than Lewis so there must be something wrong.'
"In the mind of the driver, when you've tried everything, they did actually talk in Baku about having gone through umpteen setup changes, so they're really hunting around to try and find pace, the pace they need is obviously to race against Red Bull.
"So Lewis is trying to find the advantage, again, that he had in his car, and it's not there. And in the fact of the matter is, it's Red Bull that are now exposing the vulnerability of the Mercedes package.
"If you start going hunting for something that's not there, you can get lost. And I think that's one of the things that might account for something like a chassis change, because you're trying to find the mysterious thing that never existed in the first place."
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