Mercedes not willing to give rivals a timeline regarding W15 ‘updates’ amidst MASSIVE up-turn in performance

Mercedes has so far amassed 151 points in the 2024 Constructors Championship.

Mercedes not willing to give rivals a timeline regarding W15 ‘updates’ amidst MASSIVE up-turn in performance

Andrew Shovlin and Mercedes W15 (Via: Imago)

The Mercedes F1 team has not had the best of times under the ground-effect era. The last few campaigns have turned out to be downright torrid, but this year, the story seems to be different as since Monaco, the Toto Wolff-led team has been on a noticeable upward trajectory.

At the recent Spanish Grand Prix weekend, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were on it from the get-go in their respective W15s. Moreover, courtesy of the upgrades, they were able to secure a solid P3 and P4 finish.

YouTube video

Seeing the upturn in performance, Mercedes is wary of not revealing its upgrades timeline to rivals in order to gain an advantage.

FS Video
Well, we've got a plan to bring more performance to the car. Now, we don't really want to give our competitors an idea of when we're bringing an update because then they'll be pushing to try and bring one sooner. But certainly, we've got more stuff coming. We can see that gap getting down and as  it gets smaller, it's motivating people even more.
Andrew Shovlin said in an interview

Looking at the reaction of the Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director, it is quite clear that the Brackley-based team is putting maximum effort into keeping their cards close to their chest. They are well aware of the big step they have made in terms of performance, and thus, do not want to give away anything going forward.

Mercedes in with a realistic chance to ‘fight for victories’

While Shovlin has admitted Mercedes is not going to reveal its updates timeline, Toto Wolff is immensely pleased with the work his team is putting in behind the scenes. Moreover, he feels that if the outfit can keep up the good work, they will have a chance to fight for victories.

Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton
Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton (Via Imago)

Mercedes has so far amassed 151 points in the Constructors Championship.

The team has worked hard to improve the W15 at circuits with a wide corner speed range, like Barcelona. We came away from the weekend with solid points but we know there is more work to do to be in with a realistic chance of fighting for victories. That work is ongoing, and we are on a positive trajectory.
Toto Wolff said in an interview with Silverarrows.net

The 2024 World Championship fight is shaping up to be a four-way tussle between Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes. All four have shown massive signs of improvement and are in with a shot. As things stand, it is safe to assume that the winner of the ongoing season could be the one who manages to come out on top in the development war.

In case you missed it: