Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the Brackley squad is facing a "difficult situation" regarding its 2023 car, as it must carefully evaluate the design concept of its future contender.
Mercedes is in the midst of troubled season, marked by the complex aerodynamic issues that have undermined the performance of its new-generation W13.
After a difficult start to its 2022 campaign, during which it struggled to gain control of its porpoising and bouncing problems, Mercedes enjoyed a step forward, with its progress allowing the team to score consecutive top-three finishes.
George Russell's pole position in Hungary brought further confidence that the reigning world champions had perhaps turned a corner.
But the Silver Arrows squad's Belgian Grand Prix weekend equated to a set back and added more confusion the team's attempts to fully understand its car, not only to improve its short-term performance but also to help Mercedes define its 2023 machine.
©Mercedes
"It's a very difficult situation because we obviously have a certain concept of a car," explained Wolff, referring to Mercedes' design approach for 2023 that it is in the process of deciding.
"It's not like we can experiment a lot this year and just simply dial stuff out and test.
"So whatever we decide for next year needs to be carefully evaluated because clearly our data don't give us the results, and don't correlate with the reality.
"We have massive swings in performance that we can't really get on top of.
"So in this moment to take a decision for next year, whatever it may be, like changing the concept dramatically, how can you be sure that that's the better direction to go because clearly we'll be starting a little bit way back?"
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Mercedes' W13 was characterized by its zero-sidepod concept when it was rolled out in Barcelona during pre-season testing. But Wolff is unsure its car's overall concept should be defined by that striking design feature, or whether the latter should necessarily be discarded.
"It's quite difficult to say what is the concept," he said. "Is it the chassis in its current shape? What is that? Is it weight distribution? Is it where you can put the mechanical and aero balance? Is it the bodywork concept?
"All these different pillars of the car are evaluated and it could mean that some of that goes and some of that stays. And that's what we're looking at the moment."
©Mercedes
Unfortunately, Mercedes' efforts to draw a clear picture of how it should approach its 2023 design haven't been helped by F1's cost cap measures, as the team just can spend its way out of its problems.
"Look at the chassis...we wouldn't be able to introduce a chassis at that stage of the season," Wolff said.
"We are massively overweight, which we haven't been really able to dial out because we are trying parts on the car in order to solve our various issues. So we can't afford that, full stop.
"So what was aimed by introducing the cost cap absolutely hit the target. It is what they wanted: to achieve that the big teams can't just throw money at it."
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