Mercedes acknowledges they are ‘starting behind’ with 2023 F1 car

Toto Wolff called the W14 a car that will 'eventually' be good enough to fight at the front, and Mercedes' technical director acknowledged that they are starting behind.

Mercedes acknowledges they are ‘starting behind’ with 2023 F1 car

Mercedes' team principal, Toto Wolff

It’s fair to say that 2022 was a disappointing year for Mercedes. They only won one race (with a 1-2 in Sao Paulo), even though it really was a fantastically dominant weekend for them. Before the season had kicked off, many expected them to at least be in the title fight – as they had been the dominant team since 2014. Far from it, however, they looked squarely third-best.

Though they improved as the season went on, and were often Red Bull’s closest competition in the second half of the season. But it wasn’t enough for them to snatch P2 from Ferrari. Regardless of that, expectations are once against high, and fans hope the team can contend for the title this time around. There has definitely been a lot of talk about a potential three-way fight in 2023.

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But Mercedes have constantly tried to temper people’s expectations. Toto Wolff, in particular, said that it’s possible the gaps at the start of the season will be similar to those seen at the end of 2022. But he did concede that there’s potential for the ‘development slope’ to be ‘steeper’. He recently sang a similar tune. As per The Race, he said that the team “mobilised every reserve we had” in order to counter the limitations of the car in 2022.

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The Austrian added that there’s been: “so much effort, motivation, and energy to launch a car that will eventually be competitive enough to fight at the very front of the grid,” while acknowledging that: “our [Mercedes’] competitors were very strong last year, and we are playing catch-up.”

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Mercedes ‘under no illusions’ that the fightback will be ‘tough’

The Mercedes, bearing Lewis Hamilton's Number 44 (Image Credit: Mercedes)
The Mercedes, bearing Lewis Hamilton’s Number 44 (Image Credit: Mercedes)

Mercedes are set to complete a shakedown on the same day as their car launch. For the fans’ first taste of how the car behaves on track, and for the team to get an idea of how it performs relative to the others, everyone will have to wait till pre-season testing. But even before they have a solid idea of this, they have already readied development packages for the first few races of the season.

This is likely because, as technical director Mike Elliot remarks, the team knows they are ‘starting behind’. He said: “We are under no illusions that it is going to be tough. We are starting behind and we are not the favorites. That is an unusual position for us to be in over the last 10 years, but we are focused on ourselves and working out how we do the best job we can. I have been really impressed and proud of the attitude of the team to do that.”

Even if the gaps are similar to those towards the end of last year, the team will be in a much better position than they were at the start of 2022. Considering the development rate they showed throughout last season, it’s very possible they can join the title fight. But other teams, particularly their two main rivals – Red Bull and Ferrari, surely won’t be sitting around. It’ll be interesting to see how the Silver Arrows (now sporting a black livery) start the season – and if they’re competitive from the get-go or not.

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