Mercedes is clearly in a deep state of confusion. Moreover, they are in a dilemma at present. If they try to focus entirely on the W14 car, they might lose a lot of time to conceptualize the next year’s car. But if they turn their complete focus on the W15 car, they might lose their place as the runners in this season’s constructor championship. They have been through a lot of ups and downs since last year. First of all, to digest the fact that they have lost their grip on the title to their arch-rivals.
In the first half of the season, Mercedes experimented with their car, at first with zero side pods. Later, they added side pods to the Monaco Grand Prix. Moreover, the Brackley team added front and floor suspensions. Later in Silverstone, the team added a new front wing. It might help the car gain pace around the slow-speed corners. But at the end of the day, the former champions are still winless this season. Recently, the Mercedes CTO, Mike Elliot spoke to the media, including PlanetF1, discussing their plans for the second half of 2023.
Mike Elliot Hoping To Push The W14 Car More In The Second Half Of The Season
Moreover, Elliot mentioned that it is hard to make changes to big structural parts like the chassis and gearbox in mid-season. Adding to that, Mike Elliot mentioned the team plans to learn as much as they can about what they want to achieve with W14 this year. Mercedes knows that they have a huge rear-end problem. But Mike Elliot said they must know where they are with their car and work on the big changes in the winter.
That is really the best time to make major changes to the car. Moreover, Mike Elliot mentioned that basically, they must question everything. The Mercedes team must figure out if they have the correct fundamental philosophies. Also, if the team is looking at the data in the right process. Moreover, Mike Elliot said it’s all about hard work at the end of the day. Also, the team has taken a few steps backward to get themselves out of certain positions they were in. But Mike Elliot mentioned that they are primarily focusing on the next year’s car. However, they will keep pushing the W14 car to its limit.
What Happened To The Dominant Stature Of Mercedes?
Mercedes was the most dominant team from 2014 to 2021 in the turbo-hybrid era. However, since the introduction of the cost-cap era, Mercedes has no answers for the Red Bull car. Moreover, Adrian Newey has designed the perfect car for the Austrian team since the cost-cap era started. Along with the efforts of the Chief Technology Officer of Red Bull, they have got an engine partner in the form of Honda.
On top of that, the current double-time driver’s champion, Max Verstappen, has been unbeatable. The whole combination for Red Bull has been just perfect. Moreover, no team has any answers to beat the RB19 this season. Red Bull has won all the races so far. They might end up winning all the races this season. But what can Mercedes do to stop their arch-rivals from achieving the unbelievable feat?