The 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix saw doom for Mercedes this season. It brought a lot of surprises and shocking news following Aston Martin’s comeback and Mercedes’ downfall once again. Lewis Hamilton, who finished fifth in the season opener, remained disappointed with the team for providing the W14, which is again not optimizing at the level of the rivals like last year.
By no means should Mercedes anticipate their 2023 black livery car for the upcoming races because the result is right in front of us: Free Practice 3 at Jeddah ended Hamilton on P5 and Russell on P11, not an outcome the Brackley-based team wished to see. The entire car can’t be changed now that the season has begun, and there is only a $135 million budget. But the game-changer upgrade is still possible, and that is what Mercedes is conducting meetings after meeting for.
Mercedes Ready To Bring New Concept
As per Autosport, after the Bahrain GP, team Mercedes including the senior managers, chief engineers, drivers, and all important staff, held a meeting. As a result of these meetings, the Silver Arrows figured out what they needed to do now. Driver George Russell has assured that the get-togethers remained successful.
He said, “We had a very good, honest, and open conversation” ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Questions like, Why the German squad failed to match the expected result in the first place? In this short term of time, what the team has got to do? What is the right direction for Mercedes? has got answers, as says George Russell. And these are now meant to bring victory for Mercedes.
The team Started Working On The New Concepts Last Week Tuesday
Although, the 24-year-old Mercedes driver did not reveal the exact plan of the Brackley-based team. The exact part that needs to get changed or any particular area where Mercedes is bringing upgrades is still hidden. But George did mention that the team is focusing on settling with some updates worth calling changed concepts because implementing a whole new design is no less than taking huge risks intentionally.
The 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix winner knows that the winter break was not utilized as much as it should have been. The targets set during the off-season were wrong. And now there is the need to change the lanes. However, one more thing Russell revealed is that the new direction and new targets that Mercedes set after the Bahrain Grand Prix are already processing.
Since last Tuesday, the team has started working on new ideas. Unaware of when that can be brought to the W14, Russell finds the positive aspects of the situation. He points out that last year the W13’s problems were more aggressive. It had porpoising issues, which the W14 doesn’t. After a season of progress, Mercedes wants no similar problems to tackle again.
Meanwhile, George Russell claimed that FIA’s regulation change of 2023 somehow remained helpful for Mercedes. The majority of the problems, which are basically the bouncing, have been solved due to the new technical regulations that FIA implemented at the end of the season to aid the teams suffering from porpoising issues.