Mercedes has been facing much trouble since the cost cap era started. In the previous turbo-hybrid period, the team that enjoyed an absolute hegemony is now fighting to get among the title contentions. Within a couple of years, the F1 sport experienced a tremendous change. From 2014 Mercedes won the driver’s plus the constructor’s titles until 2021. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021 was the turning point when the momentum shifted towards the Austrian team. Last year Mercedes could not even win the constructor’s title that they last won in 2021.
Toto Wolff Says That The GP In Jeddah Will Be A Learning Curve
In the new era of the cost cap, the big problem for Mercedes is the poor quality of the car. Last year the W13 car saw a massive problem of porpoising that caused tremendous bouncing. The whole season got wasted because of the porpoising issue. But the team managed to reduce the trouble with a lot of bouncing. But the “zeropod” technology of the new W14 car seems to suffer from balance issues. The opening race of 2023 in Bahrain proved that Mercedes needs to change a lot of things in the new car.
The car is not yet a championship-winning material. The young driver of the Mercedes team, George Russell, had already mentioned that they might have to sacrifice the current season to get ready to be the title contenders in 2024. The Brackley team finished as the fourth-fastest in both the opening races of driver’s and constructor’s titles. The team boss says that the next race in Jeddah will display a lot of qualities as well as problems with the car. The Saudi Arabia GP is very different from that of the Bahrain race.
Mercedes Ain’t Looking For A Drastic Change In The Next Race
Boss Toto Wolff sounded optimistic about the next race. He mentioned that the Mercedes team had made slight adjustments to the W14 car. It won’t have a significant impact but will push the German team in the right direction. Even if the vehicle does not change much, the Mercedes boss hopes that they will display a better performance than what happened in Bahrain. Wolff feels that the Bahrain race this season helped the team get more cautious about what they are going to do to prepare for the future. The team is having discussions with all honesty and openness about the present situation.
Mercedes is looking forward to the next race leaving no stone unturned. Wolff says he can feel the determination in the factory to turn things around. In every way possible, the team is looking for answers as to how they can get back to the title contention. On the other hand, Red Bull has proved that they have the best car at present. Max Verstappen would be looking forward to winning a hat trick of titles. However, on the Mercedes front, Lewis Hamilton must be eager to win the eighth title. He came very close in 2021 until the last lap in Abu Dhabi changed everything.
