The German squad’s boss, Toto Wolff, has promised an “immediate response” to the Scuderia’s challenge and no stone will remain unturned to extract more from the Silver Arrows potential.

Germany’s Auto, Motor und Sport is reporting that the team’s new-spec W08 was apparently 5kg over its 728kg target, although would not confirm the claim.

Wolff did however touch on the subject of weight reduction, revealing that it is one area Mercedes are looking to optimise for China next week.

“I don’t want to go too much into detail but it’s an area we can definitely improve,” explained Wolff.

“With new regulations and the size of the cars, you need to balance out all the time between performance parts and the weight.

“And that’s an ongoing exercise which we are doing.”

Perhaps a bit less heavy-weight jewelry pinned to the ears of one of its drivers would help lighten the load?