Mercedes F1 admit they were wrong to disregard Lewis Hamilton’s ‘different idea’ in favor of ambitious ‘Zeropods’ W14 concept
Mercedes will bring new updates over the next five races.
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Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton. Image via PlanetF1.
Mercedes had a poor start to their 2023 season. The team knew they could not compete with Red Bull. The Milton Keynes team is in a league of its own. However, Mercedes did not expect to see Aston Martin ahead of them. Toto Wolff admitted that the Aston Martin podium at the Bahrain GP was a wake-up call for them. The team wanted to make bold decisions regarding the concept of the W14.
After the first two races, Mercedes finally got a podium at the Australian GP. Lewis Hamilton, who qualified 3rd, finished the race in second place. Toto Wolff was delighted with the result. However, the team will still focus on changing its car concept. They will not be carried away by the podium finish. Toto Wolff revealed that his star driver, Lewis Hamilton, had a different idea for the W14’s concept. But, the team decided to pursue their “zero sidepods” design over the winter break.
Toto Wolff explained, “Lewis had a different idea. But in the end, we all decided together to remain faithful to this concept, encouraged by the good results at the end of last year. We did everything to make our concept work because, based on our data, it should have worked. But now we have confirmed that we were simply wrong.”
Toto Wolff admits the W14 needs more downforce
George Russell won the 2022 Brazilian GP. Mercedes became confident in their zero side-pods concept because of that win. Due to the data collected, the team believed they were heading in the right direction. However, it was a false positive. Hamilton’s podium in Australia will not stop Mercedes from changing its concept. Toto Wolff spoke about the difference between W14 and the other cars.
Wolff stated, “The two fastest cars of us [Aston Martin and Red Bull] generate downforce in a similar way and look very different from the W14. Our aim is to make the right decisions for the long term. For now, we’ll run with the best possible package we can handle. Whether or not you have tight bellies is irrelevant. We just need more downforce.”
Mercedes admitted that they went in the wrong direction over the winter. They have a limitation for the 2023 season due to the cost cap. But, their goal is to make partial changes that will help them perform better. The changes will not be limited to the side pods. Mercedes have many plans to improve the W14’s performance over the next five races. They have already been working on improvements and will bring updates soon.
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Sugantha Meena
(493 Articles Published)