The reputation that Mercedes maintained in Formula One for eight years just vanished within a year. The actual problem that Mercedes faced in 2022 that made the team end the season with just a solitary win was ‘the PROPISING ISSUES.’ This is something that no F1 teams ever expect in their car. But unfortunately, ultimately, they end up facing it. Mercedes is one of the strongest teams, who has entirely dominated for almost a decade.
The bouncing problems were never a Mercedes thing. But last year in W13, the car was built under the new 2022 technical regulations, with the ground floor effects in which Mercedes has no expertise. Throughout the 2022 Formula One season, the Silver Arrows struggled with porpoising issues, and it even risked Lewis Hamilton’s physical health too.
Going ahead to the new year to the new 2023 championship, one thing that Mercedes don’t ever want to see is the “porpoising issues” coming again. But seems like the universe is once again not conspiring in Mercedes’s favor. The latest 2023, black shining W14, F1 challenger for Mercedes, which brought hope among fans, is not free from issues already. A Sky Sports Pundit, Karun Chandhok, believes that also this year, Mercedes will have to encounter the bouncing tribulations that may let the same outcome emerge.
However, after going deep into analyzing the obstacles that prevented the Brackley based-team from being a title contender last year. They found that it was not just the ‘porpoising’ thing that made them lose a season like that. As soon as the team handled the bouncing problem, they realized that a lot of other issues were also piled up with the car. So they just put the car underneath with hopes of leaving behind the W13 in the past.
“Maybe Lewis Hamilton Is Nodding About How Good the Mercedes Car is”
Mercedes principal Toto Wolff has claimed that the DNA of the W14 is different from W13. But are they different in giving the porpoising issues? Looking at this statement of Karun Chandhok, it seems hard to envision a great season ahead for Mercedes. The Sky Sports F1 pundit brought the clip of Lewis Hamilton in which he is driving the new car and nodding his head. Chandhok shared the footage and captioned it as, “Maybe he is nodding about how good the car is.” This is the same thing that happened in 2022 too. But look at what happened with Mercedes last year.
No one can say it the W14 will hurt Hamilton or not. But looking at the “solid start” at Silverstone, as Andrew Shovlin suggested, a little issue coming from the new car, fans are suggested to be realistic this time. The team has just passed the worst career year. And it definitely takes time to come back and heal from the damage. If not all at once, then gradually, Mercedes will come back stronger. Wolff believes that the side pod concept of the car and other designs will undergo alteration once the season begins. Looking at the performance of the new changed livery car in the initial races, the upgrades will be brought.
