Toto Wolff makes huge revelation, says Mercedes 2024 challenger will have fundamental design changes

Toto Wolff claims the cost cap wouldn’t be an issue in making fundamental changes to the Mercedes’ 2024 challenger.

Toto Wolff makes huge revelation, says Mercedes 2024 challenger will have fundamental design changes

Toto Wolff (Image via Forbes Australia)

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team started their 2023 season on the back foot. The team was committed to their zero-pod concept, which did not yield the results they expected. Once they realized it, they made bold decisions to make changes. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff accepted that the simulation data from last season misled them. George Russell’s win in the 2022 Brazilian GP was a promising result for the team, and they believed they were heading in the right direction. 

Wolff admitted at the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP that the zero-pod concept was proven wrong. He confirmed that Mercedes would make significant changes to its car in the upcoming races. The Austrian kept his word as Mercedes introduced major upgrades in the Monaco GP with a new side pod design. Since then, Lewis Hamilton has secured two podium finishes consecutively in Spain and Canada. The team got its first double podium of the year in Spain as George Russell finished P3 behind his teammate. 

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Though Mercedes changed their car concept mid-season, they had to stay within the budget cap and compromise on many things. However, Toto Wolff says they have the scope to make fundamental design changes for their 2024 challenger, the W15, despite the $135m cost cap. He stated, “We have set up a huge organization in our financial department of 46 people, that monitors the cost cap down to the last screw.”

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Toto Wolff says Mercedes are constantly learning about the car

Lewis Hamilton in W14 (Image via Motorsport.com)
Lewis Hamilton in the W14 (Image via Motorsport.com)

Toto Wolff added, “The good thing is that we are constantly learning about what the car is doing. There are going to be some fundamental design changes for next year, but it’s not that we’re building stuff. It’s more like what are we simulating? That is not measured in money, or teraflops or wind tunnel hours.” Mercedes believe they have finally cracked the code. The team will bring bigger upgrades to the British GP scheduled for July 7th to 9th. 

Chief technical officer Mike Elliott explained that the Monaco upgrade has worked out quite well for the team. It even exceeded their expectation in Canada. The Silver Arrows hope for a strong result in the upcoming races due to the performance gains after the updates. The team believes they can be competitive again and fight for podiums. 

Mercedes hope to start fighting for victories by the end of the season. The updates brought to Monaco were a boost for the team. Toto Wolff, Mike Elliott, and the rest of the team believe they can start fighting Red Bull for wins. They hope to carry this momentum into the next season as well. After all, Wolff has revealed that the W15 will have fundamental design changes. It could help them fight for championships. 

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