F1 team Mercedes have lost their opportunity to retain the constructor championship this year. But they can still push for the second-place finish. Clearly, it won’t be easy because Ferrari and McLaren have proved to be faster than them in the last eight races. They’ll have fierce competition with Ferrari for the P2 finish. The Prancing Horse has been able to win a Grand Prix this season, breaking the streak of Max Verstappen and Red Bull as Carlos Sainz Jr. won the Singaporean Grand Prix. However, the Silver Arrows are still winless, with only five more races to go.
Like last year, the Brackley team was suffering a lot with porpoising issues, but they managed to get a victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Since then, Mercedes has been through a lot of changes and development of the car. At first, in the Monaco Grand Prix, the German team introduced new side pods of the car along with front and floor suspensions. Later, around the British Grand Prix, Mercedes added a new rear wing for their car. The idea was to gain speed around the low-speed corners. Ahead of the US GP, the German team will bring their last significant upgrade.
Mercedes Will Have A Modified Floor Ahead Of The US GP
Toto Wolff’s team introduced a lot of upgrades this season, but still, their luck has not changed one bit. Albeit, the team believes the W14 car is a lot better than its predecessor. After all, they have reduced the bouncing trouble to an absolutely minimum level. But they would not like to finish with a winless season. For the US Grand Prix, Principal Wolff is back on track. He missed the last couple of races owing to his knee surgery. According to the Mercedes boss, the P2 finish is still pretty much on the cards. Moreover, Toto Wolff mentioned that Mercedes will bring significantly new upgrades to the US Grand Prix. This update will focus on the floor side primarily.
The Principal has said that Mercedes have very busy race weeks coming up. It will start with the triple-header in the USA, Mexico, and Brazil. Adding to that, the Mercedes boss mentioned how great it is to race at the Circuit Of The Americas (COTA). It is one of the toughest tracks in modern times, although the drivers have a blast while racing at COTA. Toto Wolff said his team will bring a modified floor here in COTA. It will be their last significant update in 2023. The Mercedes boss also feels that it might help in the W14’s speed a little bit. But the main idea is to set the development path of W15, and hence, the last significant upgrade can play an essential role.
The Last Significant Update Will Show Where The Brackley Team Is Headed To In The Next Season
The team’s technical director, James Allison, also says that the new upgrade won’t help Lewis or George get past Max Verstappen this year. But the new upgrade will play the role of a “Bellwether” to show if they are going in the right direction.
Besides the upgrades, Toto Wolff said Hamilton and Russell impressed him because of the way they handled the situation at the Qatar Grand Prix. Nobody wants to end the race with collision, and that too with their own teammates. But George Russell and Lewis Hamilton showed character as they put the team ahead of their personal desires.