Mercedes has been hoping for a long time to unveil their W14 upgrades in Imola. It is because the current season did not start as well as expected. Toto Wolff and his team thought sticking to the original concept of W13 was the right way since they won in Brazil last year. That was their only victory last year. And the rest of the year, the Mercedes F1 team suffered a lot due to porpoising issues. It caused a lot of bouncing. The drivers got hurt a lot.
Lewis Hamilton even suffered bruises as well as back and neck pain in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last year. It should have been the cue to change the concept. But the one-two finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix caused the Mercedes team to rethink, and they went in the wrong direction. The team felt the need to change since the preseason tests in Bahrain. Hence, they decided to add the new upgrades to the car at the sixth Grand Prix of the year in Imola, Italy. However, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix got canceled due to flooding in northern Italy. Now, the new location for testing upgrades in Monaco. And Mercedes has revealed some major details about the impending upgrades.
Mercedes Will Try Testing New Upgrades In Monaco
The Mercedes F1 team made all the arrangements for the new upgrades in Imola. But the luck is just not going their way since last season. Heavy rain in the northern Italy region caused an overflood at the race track of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. As a result, the authorities announced the cancelation of the race. However, the news came as an utter shock in the Mercedes camp. Hence, to their dismay, the Mercedes team has planned to test the new upgrades in Monaco. As per as F1 races go, the Monaco Grand Prix is an iconic event of the year. However, that is not a great place to test new modifications because it is a street circuit. There will be uneven twists and turns on the road as well as gathering information will be a bit difficult.
Hence, it would be an ideal option if Mercedes tests their upgrades in Spanish Grand Prix, the one after Monaco. The Barcelona circuit is much more suitable for testing new upgrades and modifications. However, the head of the composite design of Mercedes, Duncan Elliot, acknowledged that it is high time they bring changes to raise our chances of title contention. Mr. Elliot also suggested that the car is always evolving. There are changes that are event specific, like low rear wing downforce specifically for Spanish Grand Prix. Although Elliot mentioned that they work closely with the Aero team to ensure the best quality components are achieved.
Why Monaco?
Mr. Elliot noted that time is essential because it depends on how fast the car travels from the tunnel to the race track, and impacting the race weekends positively is the ideal thing to achieve. Most importantly, as soon as the drivers gain confidence and faith in the car, the quicker they will start adjusting to it. Apparently, Lewis Hamilton is having the most trouble having faith in W14. He even mentioned that he had been counting the days for the Imola race. But Hamilton will have to wait for Monaco now.