Mercedes GP chief Ross Brawn insists that the team's poor performance in Australia was as a result of having the incorrect set-up.
Having surged to the front of the field during the final pre-season testing session in Barcelona, much was expected of the team heading to Australia, but they failed to deliver in spectacular fashion.
Nico Rosberg qualified in a disappointing seventh spot while Michael Schumacher didn't make it into Q3, with the seven-time World Champion forced to settle for eleventh position.
Matters didn't improve in the race either, with both driver's unable to reach the finish line due to damage sustained in accidents.
Reflecting back on their pre-season performance, Brawn lays the blame for the Melbourne failures at the door of a poor set-up.
"We took an approach over the winter which culminated in the final spec of car in Barcelona [testing]," explained Brawn.
"Barcelona is a track that we've never been super strong on, but the car was very good there.
"So we came into this weekend with reasonable confidence that we could do a good job.
"But we had a very messy weekend. Cars these days have got a lot of interesting systems on and we had a job keeping everything running, which means that we haven't done the fundamental work of getting the car balanced and finding the right set-up.
"It has been a disappointing weekend and we should have been able to do better than we achieved."
Pre-season confidence was soon replaced by doubts regarding the car as Rosberg and Schumacher failed to find any kind of rhythm.
"The problem we have got is that the drivers don't quite know what car they are going to have each time they enter a corner," said the Briton.
"The inconsistency is the thing that makes it difficult for them.
"We have had difficulties with a number of systems on the car. There are a number of things that have got messy this weekend and the main difficulty is that drivers and engineers have not had a consistent enough car to work on."
There is no immediate solution for the team's troubles either, with Brawn insisting that the focus remains on the current car and that there will be no upgrades rushed in panic.
"There are a series of upgrades planned, but what we have got to focus on is using what we've got already. The fundamentals are there and we've got to get everything to work well together over a weekend, and then we can show a much stronger performance," he added.
