Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff said that he hopes the new W14 car is as fast as it looks during the car launch. Last year was quite disappointing for the team and the fans. Mercedes dominated the grid from 2014 to 2020 and was nowhere in the picture for title contention. The team suffered a massive setback due to the poor condition of the W13 car. The W13 car had a massive porpoising issue. Last year during the pre-season testing, the Mercedes team realized the car was having major bouncing problems.
Nothing was really fitting with the side pods and the horsepower of the car. The seven-time champion Sir Lewis Hamilton finished the season without any race win for the first time in his career. Mercedes engineers started to work on the car halfway through the last season. The damage was done, but the team managed to come up with a car they are very hopeful about.
Opening Day Of Pre-Season Testing Summary
The 2023 season is about to kick off on March 5 at the Bahrain Grand Prix. But before that, the essential pre-season testing needs to be done. The first day of the testing in Bahrain is over, and it is kind of a happy atmosphere in the Mercedes camp. Toto Wolff suggests the results are quite promising.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and sixth, respectively, but it looked like there was plenty of pace left in the locker. Toto Wolff said, “the first impression counts. We knew instantly that we were in deep trouble when we saw the results of the W13 car’s opening day of pre-season testing last year. The car was bouncing too much. But fortunately, not this time. W14 car shows promise on the opening day.”
Mercedes Happy With The Opening Day’s Results
Wolff talks about Hamilton and says, “We know what we have to do. We hope to provide Lewis with a fast and a smooth car. Rest he will take care of it. That’s all he needs to win a title.” George Russell will also be a threat to Red Bull and Ferrari, and his seven-time champion teammate. Last year with the horrible W13 car, Russell managed to win a Grand Prix in Brazil. Russell managed to beat Hamilton and did pretty well in his debut season for Mercedes.
Mercedes had hegemony on the constructor’s title, which they lost to Red Bull last year. They hope to get it back with the promising W14 and the talented drivers they have got. Andrew Shovlin, Director of the trackside engineering of Mercedes, expressed his feelings about the opening day results. He said, “we had a solid start in the pre-season testing.” Shovlin added, “the kind of start we were hoping for, we got just that. The car did not display any faults and had good balance, and was much calmer than our car in 2022. There is stability in W14 which makes us more and more ambitious with the car.”
