Red Bull and Mercedes have experienced vastly contrasting fortunes since their epic 2021๊ title battle, with the former dominating F1’s new era of regulations by sweeping to back-to-back drivers’ and constructors’ world championships.

Meanwhile, Mercedes have managed just one win since the st🍬art of 2022, having produced a flawed car design concept that was initially carried over into 2023, before it was abandoned from the Monaco Grand Prix.

The eight-time constructors’ world champions continue to lag behind Red Bull but remain hopeful about reducing the deficit over a crucial winter, in which they are expecte🔥d make a fundamental design overhaul for 2024.

But 1996 F1 world champion Hill doubts whether Mercedes fully un🌌derstand the current set of ground-effect based aerodynamic regulations.

“My anxiety is this, which is that for a long time, Mercedes' dominance really was down to their power unit. They had the best power unit for a very long time," Hil🔯l told the Sky Sports F1 Podcast.

"And the aerodynamics were always slightly different to Red Bull's. And if you remember towards the en▨d of the previous Formula 1 regulations, they persisted with their relatively flat looking rake on the car, whereas Red Bull 💝were absolutely huge.

"They led the way and everyone started following Red Bull with this very high rake. It lookꦺed like a rat running along the car. It had a very high back.

"But Mercedes stuck persistently or doggedly with their with their other… they looked like they were ru♚nning a different aero concept on their car in the previous regulations, and then along c🅰ome a new set of regulations…

"What I'm saying is, is the Mercedes aero department missing a trick here? And they've lost quitꦇe a few good aero people to other teams as well, over time."

Fellow Sky pundit Naomi Schiff also 🌜expressed doubts about Mercedes, pointing to the fact they have recently been outperformed by customer teams McLaren and Aston Martin.

"You've got🦩 to ask how has a team like McLaren, who from at least the power unit perspective is a customer team of Mercedes, how have they so dramatically been able to t♌urn it around?” Schiff said.

“How ♛were Aston at the beginning of the season, so dramatically able to turn it arou💎nd and why is a team like Mercedes still struggling?

"Obviously, they didn't 💙bite the bullet at the beginning of the year or during the winter period last year to completely change their concept, and I think there are some major regrets about that because they could be much further f𝓰orward today.

"But when you're essentially work༺ing on a mechanical base that is faulty and you're just trying to make the best of a situation, it's not going to be great.

"At the end of the day, they're a team who's won multiple world championships. They know how to build a car. I have some faith tha👍t they will be able over this winter to turn their situation around. But then again, as I say, Red Bull is so far up the road and they're doing the same thing over the winter period.

"So it's always going to be a question mark to🌊 see where they end up next year."