Evidently, Mercedes had a difficult season last year with their W13 car. The car had technical issues with the single-seat challenger, and that is why the team could not get the most out of it. It was because the car had more troubles than benefits to provide. The Mercedes W14 caused a terrible amount of bouncing due to the porpoising issue. Apparently, just after the pre-season testing last year, the team got a bad feeling about how the season was going to pan out. Their fear was proved valid. Most importantly, they missed the top 3 places in the driver’s championship.
But Mercedes also lost their grip on the constructor’s championship after being the victor since 2014. However, the Silver Arrows are confident enough to bounce back with their 2023 W14 car. The pre-season testing for the 2023 season ended last Saturday. And this time as well, the reaction of the Mercedes team looks a bit mixed kind. After the first day, the Brackley-based team sounded relieved as the bouncing problem was gone. But on the second day, a new problem with the car came to light.
Andrew Shovlin And George Russell Reveals W14’s Status
This year, the W14 car seems to suffer from balancing trouble. Albeit, the chief engineer of Mercedes, Andrew Shovlin, expressed a positive reaction after the completion of the three-day testing. The trackside engineer believes that the new car’s condition is much better than that of its predecessor after the testing. After the second day, the team held a deep investigation session to figure out a solution for the new trouble. Shovlin said, “we have made some specific changes to the car, and the balance is better than before.” He also added that the balance after the third day looked exactly like what the drivers need for a single lap or even a longer run.
The chief engineer knows that the Mercedes car will need to generate more pace to win the upcoming Grand Prix in Bahrain and the following races. The young talent of Mercedes, George Russell, was able to complete 83 laps in the morning session on Saturday. Russell pointed out the improvement of the car on Saturday to what it was on the second day. According to Russell, the vehicle was in a much better window in the typical hot weather that proved difficult on the last day. He mentioned, “We have taken a step forward after improving on the problems we faced yesterday.” Russell sounded optimistic that W14 will get only better in the coming days.
Lewis Hamilton Also Discuss The Progress Of Mercedes W14 Car
As Mercedes is working day and night to fix the issues, things should get better. The seven-time champion, Lewis Hamilton, was not far behind as he entered into the scene during the afternoon session. Hamilton looked pretty quick to complete 63 laps on the softer C5 compound of Pirelli tyres. However, it was Red Bull’s Sergio Perez who won first place using the slower compound C4s. Hamilton was only three-tenths behind Verstappen’s teammate.
But Mercedes legend is not looking very positive about the upcoming Bahrain Grand Prix. Hamilton did appreciate the Mercedes team’s work ethic but doesn’t think it will make much difference in the results of the opening Grand Prix of the 2023 season. As he said, “I’m really proud of the team for making all these improvements to W14, but we are still not where we wanted to be.” Lewis Hamilton is not sure what will happen next week, but Mercedes will keep pushing to get the best result.
