The entire 2022 Formula One season was filled with excitement and success and the same amount of disappointments and failures. For Red Bull, the season was all about winning. They won 17 Grand Prix races, both the championships and millions of fans’ hearts. For Ferrari, the season was all about battling for the championship, ultimately claiming the runner-up position. On the other hand, for Mercedes, the season was all about battling with themselves and learning through mistakes and failures. And regretting alongside analyzing what wrong they did with W13 so that it won’t get repeated with W14.
Mercedes W13 Problem Figured Out!
The W13 was so slow that it deprived the seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, of title contention. For the first time in his career, after he joined Mercedes, Hamilton faced this much disappointment and issues in the car. The year was the first in his entire F1 history when he made no wins. This year, Lewis Hamilton did not only lose to his rival Max Verstappen he also got defeated by teammate George Russell by 34 points.
Being the owner of seven world titles, Hamilton was beaten by a newcomer with zero wins. Indeed it destroyed the champion’s dignity. Hamilton was hurt badly by the car’s performance. He denied sitting in a similar car after the season ended. So, if the Silver Arrows don’t provide Hamilton with a strong car in 2023. He will definitely not drive for Mercedes.
Now, in order to retain the seven-time world champion’s legacy, Mercedes is all set to make the strongest-ever W14. For making such a car, the first thing they need to do is, figure out the problems of W13. Finding the mistakes, learning from them, and establishing a flawless system in the new car that’s what it takes in Formula One to stand strong on the grid. And this is what Mercedes is doing. The technical director of the team, Mike Eliott, claims that Mercedes went through a lot of progress and in the end made the second strongest car, as one sees their one-two finish in Interlagos.
“We Found The Wrong Part And Working On them”- Mike Eliott
According to Mike Eliott, initially, the car did the same as they wished, but just then, something came out of the stimulation that moved the car in a different direction. He regrets that if the team had made a different decision. They would have probably won the championship or at least would have been in the title contention.
He added, “The very first thing that seemed wrong was very difficult to spot in the Mercedes car.” And then there came a chain reaction, which paved the way for a disappointing season. However, after continuous effort for so long, it was easy to see what the wrong turn they had taken was.
However, whatever happened in 2022, ended there, and it won’t ever be continued because it was a mistake not to be repeated. In the end, the technical director of Mercedes said, “We know where we went wrong and that we know that the team can get more performance out of W14 if we change the decision this time.”
He revealed that the few upgrades that Mercedes launched during the ending races were a part of the test and preparation for 2023. Now that the adat is available, the notion is confirmed, “the rest of work will be done this winter break. All we gotta do is see where it takes to Mercedes.” said Mike Eliott.
