JONATHAN McEVOY: Mercedes badly miss Niki Lauda… he would have shaken them from this malaise

Mercedes will find out in the next 72 hours whether there is life after Niki Lauda.

It is now just over four years since that inspirational man passed away at the age of 70, 43 years after the accident that burned him, leaving him scarred but unbent.

He was a ‘warrior’, as Bernie Ecclestone wrote in Mail Sport at the time of the Austrian’s death, adding: ‘I wish he could have lived a peaceful life somehow, but that wouldn’t have happened to him. to fit. He was not a peaceful man. He was a fighter.’

He was also the man who glued Mercedes together. The leader who would get to the point. His role, as non-executive chairman, in setting up the team and bringing in Lewis Hamilton was indestructibly important, not least because he was the link between the team and the board in Stuttgart.

So why mention his name now? Because Mercedes finally introduced an upgrade and you wonder if if Lauda was still around, maybe it wouldn’t have come out sooner, rather than 15 months after the new regulations.

Mercedes long held the line that the car’s performance did not match their simulated numbers. I can imagine Niki declaring, ‘Bull****, I’ll give you some data – ONE SECOND behind the Red Bulls’, then ask for a course change on the spot. Doubting was not Herr Lauda’s middle name.

Toto Wolff is a team boss more attached to procedure and evidence, and appears to have been slow to act in converting the car with the new floor that was trialled at Monaco last week and will be given another outing at Barcelona this weekend after he stuck with Mike Elliott as chief of tech longer than the evidence of his work suggested it was wise. Elliott has since switched places with the highly respected James Allison, a switch strangely dressed as a promotion for Elliott.

This loyalty and evolution of the design continued despite Lewis Hamilton saying how happy he was never to drive last year’s car again.

Then, on the eve of the opening race of the season, Wolff made the extraordinary statement that the car was bad beyond repair. The concept was flawed. What this gloomy forecast did for team morale is hard to imagine.

Now Wolff has prophesied that the upgrade will ultimately not give them an edge over Aston Martin and Ferrari, Red Bull’s other pursuers. That doesn’t really sound like an ‘upgrade’. And yesterday Hamilton stated that it is “definitely not the step forward we were hoping for”. Oh dear, squared.

But let’s see what the timetables tell us over the next few days at the Circuit de Catalunya before we make a final judgement.

A few other notes on the Mercedes malaise. They have sent staff and seem to have taken their eyes off the ball. Wolff, for example, has moved to Monaco, putting considerable distance between him and the Brackley factory.

History suggests that it is difficult for teams to recover from dips after prolonged periods of success. I wish Mercedes luck with their upgrade this weekend. The sport needs them to compete at the top. But there are no guarantees that they will climb the highest terrain again.

Stay away from Barca

Name the memorable Spanish Grand Prix. It’s not a long list no matter how you slice it.

It is ironic that after the stomach ache over Monaco, Barcelona escaped without the same scrutiny. Not here.

My heart leaps at the idea of ​​Madrid replacing this location, which is far outside the beautiful city.

Talks are underway in the capital, whether it’s a gee-up for Barcelona organizers or more likely in real life.

Facilities at Circuit de Catalunya are tired, and thus contrary to Liberty’s desire to embrace the beating and the shiny.

Maybe removing the last corner chicane will help spice up the action, but it feels like time for a change of scenery.

Alonso is a proven great

Fernando Alonso hasn’t won a race since falling under the black and white checkered flag in Barcelona 10 years ago, making his revival this season all the more remarkable.

How many drivers would have walked away after struggling at the back of the grid after their 40th birthday?

He has always been a hero in his native Spain, but something of an anti-hero beyond, not least at the heart of Lewis Hamilton, dating back to 2007 and their unholy rivalry at McLaren.

I feel those animosities are fading because Alonso deserves more than he ever won. He has claimed two titles to Hamilton’s seven, but is no less than a third as talented.

He is now one of three proven greats on the grid, alongside Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Whether or not another title is within reach in the next two years, I hope he gets at least a few more wins with his 32 so far, seven less than Verstappen.

“Pretty impressive for an old man,” his Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll said of the 41-year-old, with a smile of appreciation on his face.

When Alonso made his F1 debut in Melbourne in 2001, Stroll was just two years old.

Russell’s food for thought

This column isn’t necessarily the place to go for nutritional advice, but here are some from George Russell.

He tells me he is 6ft 2in and weighs 11st 9lb, having barely fluctuated more than two or three pounds over the course of his career.

He can take few liberties on the scales as one of the tallest drivers on the grid.

“The rule is 80/20,” he says. “If you watch what you eat 80 percent of the time, you can eat what you want the other 20 percent.”

Monaco coverage on track

Thanks to Formula 1 for their TV coverage of Monte Carlo last week. It was their production debut in the principality after years of the Automobile Club de Monaco calling the shots.

The view from the helicopter – never approved by the ACM in recent years – showed the area in its gleaming splendour.

Riding aboard during qualifying was also effective, as was when they held Lewis Hamilton for a lap.

It brought to life how hairy it is in the narrow streets. No doubt the opacity was sharper.