Mercedes and Ferrari are the two powerhouses who are struggling a lot this season. They have not found a victory yet this year. On the other hand, Red Bull, another powerhouse, has been winning all ten races so far. Thanks to Adrian Newey’s car design and Max Verstappen’s spectacular skill on the track, there has been no stopping Red Bull.
Mercedes must be planning to introduce a few more upgrades to improve the performance of the car. They added a new front wing in Silverstone, but still, they were slower than McLaren and Red Bull. The latter two teams have identical side pods. Mercedes might like to copy that as well. But the thing that is concerning is if the Brackley team breaches the cost cap while introducing so many upgrades. Moreover, reports from Motorsport.com and Auto Motor und Sport earlier this week suggest that there are three teams who have breached the cost cap in 2022. However, Mercedes and Ferrari clearly stated that they were sure about not being two of those three teams.
Mercedes And Ferrari Steer Clear Of Any Sort Of Cost Cap Breaching
According to Motorsports.com, Toto Wolff stated that Mercedes cannot breach the cost cap because they are planning to make necessary changes for the next year. Apparently, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton have been vocal about what changes to the car they wish for. The team plans to make those changes for the 2024 car. But the Mercedes boss agrees that the cost cap has become a real constraint these days. Even Ferrari has been running out of money to make necessary changes to close the gap with Red Bull. But Fred Vasseur says his team has not been able to do everything they wanted this year. The Ferrari boss blames the cost cap for not allowing them to do a new project as they could a couple of years ago.
What these teams can do this year is just try to adapt to the situation. Fred Vasseur believes his team has done a solid job of adapting to this year’s situation. Moreover, Ferrari’s boss mentioned that they plan to correct their direction. On the other hand, FIA has called the data that states three teams breached the cost cap “Factually wrong.” Moreover, Stefano Domenicali, the F1 boss, called for harsh sanctions in the sport, if that is the case. Adding to that, Craig Slater of Sky Sports F1 stated that FIA is not done with the auditing process, but it will be in the coming weeks. Moreover, the governing body also stated that potential breaching reports have not yet founded.
Toto Wolff And Fred Vasseur Have No End Of Their Troubles With Their Cars
But Mercedes and Ferrari have been facing multiple problems with their car. For instance, Mercedes introduced new upgrades in Monaco and later in Silverstone. But it did not help them win a race yet. However, Mercedes has found some progress with the car after upgrading the front and floor suspensions along with adding new side pods. The former constructor champions changed their car’s zero side pod concept after struggling tremendously initially in the 2023 season.
Now at least, they are getting more podium finishes than they have been getting in the beginning. Like in the early part of the season, Mercedes had one podium finish in the Australian Grand Prix. It was Lewis Hamilton’s 192nd podium finish. Since then, after introducing new upgrades, Lewis Hamilton has had three more podium finishes but not a win yet.
