Clearly, Mercedes is not the second-best team this season anymore. Things started to go downhill for the Silver Arrows in 2022. Prior to that season, they were the most dominant team in the grid. As soon as the regulations changed from turbo engines to ground effect and cost cap rules came into play, there was a sudden shift in hegemony. In 2021, Max Verstappen managed to beat the dominant Lewis Hamilton to win his maiden Driver’s World Championship. However, Red Bull could not beat their rivals that year to win another constructor title.
For eight straight years, Toto Wolff and his team enjoyed the hegemony on the grid. But then, in 2022, Christian Horner and his team got back to winning ways and started to dominate like never seen before. That year, Mercedes managed to win just one race in Brazil. On the other hand, Red Bull won 17 races. Later, in 2023, they won 21 out of 22 races. But Mercedes has remained winless since last year. In 2024, the Silver Arrows had one of the worst starts ever in their team history. But they will be bringing new upgrades in Monaco and the next couple of races.
James Allison Believes The Brackley Factory Has Been “On A War Footing” At Present
Mercedes has come up with a new upgrade package since the Miami Grand Prix. What they brought in Miami was a small part of that package. They had brought a few more parts in Imola. As it stands, they will bring new upgrade parts in Monaco as well. Lately, Mercedes published a video where James Allison said that their stuff in the last weekend was ‘Part 2’ of a ‘Part 1’ that they had in Miami. As per the technical director, that ‘Part 2’ was for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. With the second part, the Silver Arrows completed that step in Italy. Moreover, the Mercedes technical director spoke about what he thought the step meant for them in Imola. Allison believes it was a gentle step forward for them.
Currently, the German team is several tenths of a second closer to the front. It has been a big difference since where they were at the start of the season and even in Imola. On top of that, James Allison said that they are very happy with moving a tenth or two nearer to the front. The former champions have made significant changes to their design philosophy since the start of the current season. Over the next races, they will make further changes. James said the factory has been on a war footing and they had plans to bring new upgrades in one slab. However, they brought those upgrades in two parts because they tried to get the car quicker every race.
Mercedes Is Pushing Themselves To The Right Direction
In that video, James Allison added that those upgrades were certainly a “Push” they needed to move to the right direction. Now, the Mercedes technical director said they should keep the momentum coming. That’s the biggest challenge for Toto Wolff’s team. In Monaco, the Silver Arrows will bring new pieces for W15, aerodynamic and so on. They will have new pieces in Montreal and other races as well.
As per Allison, it is essential to slog the assets in Brackley. That way they can figure out the lap time to design them. Keep building them and getting them on the car are the challenges that Allison and the German outfit will have to deal with. That way, the Mercedes technical chief believes they can force their way up the standings.
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