Mercedes has been struggling since last year to put on a good show. The team had a tough time with the W13 car last year. They managed to win a single race last year. Mercedes was dominating the grid in the turbo-hybrid era. After losing the Driver’s title back in 2021, it seems they cannot get the car right anymore. The Brackley team has not yet discovered the formula to build an ambitious and fast car in the cost-cap era. At the beginning of the 2023 season, people were expecting the Mercedes team to have major improvements on the car. Albeit, there were some changes and modifications in W14.
But it was not enough to get them over the line. Mercedes is still far behind Red Bull, the current champions, after the first three races of the year. The Austrian team is still 67 points ahead of the Silver Arrows. Mercedes are 9 points behind Aston Martin. After the Australian Grand Prix, the F1 teams have got a little less than a month’s break to get ready for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Hence, it is a perfect time to make all the upgrades to the car for Mercedes before it gets too late. The Brackley-based team will need to find ways to win back-to-back races to get back to the title hunt.
Allison Claims Mercedes Looking To Make Major W14 Upgrades
James Allison recently mentioned, “We are going to address the flaws of the car’s aerodynamics in this break.” The chief technical officer of the German team added that they would look to find more downforce in the wind tunnel as well as try to find the underlying balance of the car. If these improvements are made to the car, then the drivers would find more confidence to push it to the limits. As Lewis Hamilton, after coming second in Melbourne, mentioned, “The cockpit is not making me comfortable.” The engineers and the rest of the team know how difficult the race track in Baku is.
Allison also added that the team would be looking at the simulation loops and also the routine for the upcoming race weekends. The team needs to make sure that they land the car at the right place in Baku. The chief technical officer also added that the race in Baku would be very crucial for every team to gain maximum points after the first four Grands Prix as it is the first sprint race of the year. Mercedes needs to secure the P1 in the next few races if they don’t want Red Bull to enjoy a free way to the third title in a row.
Lewis Hamilton Will Have To Fight Bad Memories In Baku
Previously, the team boss Toto Wolff mentioned, “There are some major upgrades waiting in Imola for W14. It will look very different after those upgrades.” Mercedes had a tough time in Baku last year. Lewis Hamilton will have to fight through the bad memories of the previous season in Baku.
The main problem was because of the W13 car’s porpoising issues. But the Mercedes team would hope that new upgrades to W14 would help them to overcome the obstacles of the Baku race track this time. The first sprint race of the season going to be very vital to understand how the car is progressing.
