Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admits W14 was a flawed concept, says Mercedes ‘misinterpreted’ new F1 regulations

Toto Wolff admits Mercedes’ misunderstanding of the F1 ground effect rules, switches to conventional design for a competitive edge

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admits W14 was a flawed concept, says Mercedes ‘misinterpreted’ new F1 regulations

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff (via IMAGO)

Adamant about their sidepod design, Mercedes decided to continue their zero-pod approach for the 2023 season as well. However, the Silver Arrows fell back as their former rivals mastered their car design and dominated the field. Team boss Toto Wolff accepts Mercedes’ ‘misinterpretation’ of the new F1 rulings.

“We had to work through this because we had also discovered that the [previous] direction just simply didn’t work,” Toto Wolff told the media, referring to Mercedes’ design failure. “The regulations were changed which we misinterpreted, and we start from zero,” he continued. Earlier in the season, Mercedes believed their problems were due to porpoising, but their troubles were deeply rooted.

YouTube video

After admitting how Mercedes disfigured the new regulations, the Austrian believes that it’s a learning lesson for the team and a setback they will soon overcome. Both the Mercedes drivers were appreciative of the W14’s B-spec upgrade. Soon after the upgrades, the Brackley team gave brilliant results on two consecutive weekends. One cannot help but wonder, was the zero-pod design Mercedes’ main enemy?

FS Video

Also read: Carlos Sainz backs Ferrari despite dismissal start to 2023 season, claims the team is moving in the ‘right direction

Toto Wolff defends Mercedes’ zero-pod approach, denies it hindered W14’s performance

Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes W14 at the Monaco GP; Image credit: Mercedes-AMG Petronas

After an underwhelming start to the season, Mercedes finally caved in and opted for a more conventional sidepod design for the Monaco GP. A 4th and 5th place finish in Monaco and a double podium in Barcelona led many to believe that the sidepods greatly impacted Mercedes’ result. Toto Wolff believes that the car’s floor is more important than the sidepods as it generates most of the car’s downforce.

“The engineers say they make no difference,” Wolff said, addressing the newly upgraded car. He also mentioned that the team got rid of the older design just to remove the doubts surrounding it. “If we were to return to a more conventional sidepod/engine cover, at least we don’t need to discuss that anymore,” he concluded.

Mercedes, before the Spanish Grand Prix, were only able to score one podium, which was clenched by Lewis Hamilton at the Australian GP. An immediate change in performance at Barcelona was a great progress of the Brackley-based team. Mercedes will have great expectations for the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix and potentially match the pace of the dominant Red Bulls.

In case you missed it: