Mercedes already looking forward to ‘competitive solutions’ for 2023 challenger
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Perhaps one of the biggest surprises of 2022 was that Mercedes, for the first time since Formula 1 entered the hybrid era, did not have a car that could compete for the victories. Nowhere near it, in fact. While they are squarely the third-best car on the grid, they have been unable to consistently fight for victories.
It was really only in Silverstone that Mercedes fought for victory, with Lewis Hamilton looking set to be in a fight with Charles Leclerc before the safety car came out. Aside from Silverstone, Mercedes have never consistently found themselves being able to keep up with the frontrunners on pace, but France was one of the more encouraging weekends.
In France, Lewis Hamilton jumped a struggling Sergio Perez at the start of the race and held him off for the rest of the race. Late on during the race, George Russell also overtook the Mexican driver, and it seemed that Mercedes certainly had the edge on at least Sergio Perez, even though they could not particularly keep up with the other 3. But they are nowhere near in the constructor’s championship fight, as they are a whopping 126 points behind Red Bull.
Also Read: “I want to win in the right way,” Toto Wolff opines on his vision for Mercedes
Andrew Shovlin addresses next year’s car
Earlier this year, Toto Wolff had admitted that the concept of the W13 is just not good enough, and has constantly tempered expectations. While they may be able to compete for wins later, and maybe P2 in the championship considering Ferrari’s constant missteps, victory in the constructor’s championship is now extremely unlikely because the first part of the season just did not go well enough for them.
A report from Matteo Senatore on formulapassion.it reveals that Mercedes are already looking ahead to the 2023 season, and it seems that they have accepted their situation as unsalvageable, at least for this year. At Mercedes, the expectations are never lower than the minimum of at least competing for the world title, and that is just not true at the moment.
Mercedes’ trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin admitted that Mercedes are looking for a new, better concept in their 2023 cars. He said: “This year, I don’t think our car will change much visually.” he added: “For 2023, we are looking at competitive solutions. I would be surprised if our cars look the same next year. ” admitting that Mercedes are ‘looking’ at their rivals’ car concepts.
Shovlin also commented that the porpoising directive is a good ‘compromise’: Some teams wanted the directive, while some teams did not. Obviously, Mercedes supported the directive, while Red Bull and Ferrari certainly did not. As such, the changes were kept to a minimum.
Also Read: “We beat a Red Bull on pure pace,” George Russell applauds Mercedes’ efforts in an amusing debrief
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)