Sitting third in the constructors standings may be a flattering position for the Brackley-based outfit…
If you had told someone two years ago that 5 races into the 2023 season Mercedes would be 128 points adrift of the championship leader and not only that but also sitting behind customer team Aston Martin, you’d have been told get your head checked. But, alas, here we are.
With Team Principal Toto Wolff labelling the W14 a “nasty piece of work” following qualifying in Miami. So just how have the team found themselves in this almost unimaginable position this year?
A Failed Concept
When Mercedes debuted their “zeropod” in Bahrain’s pre-season test last year, onlookers thought that if they could get on top of this bold idea, that a significant advantage might be unlocked. That was until the now infamous porpoising raised its head. While all the teams suffered to some extent from this phenomenon, nobody suffered quite as bad as the Silver Arrows. The talk from the team was; if they could just get rid of the issue and be able to run the car lower without the bouncing, that the pace inherent in the car would be unleashed.
2023 arrived, and with it the near banishing of the dreaded porpoising to yesteryear – yet what has been revealed is that frankly the W14, and the zero sidepod philosophy simply does not work in the manner expected by the team. A huge upgrade package was planned for the now cancelled GP in Imola, expected to be the first of the planned remedies inbound to try and reduce the disadvantage in pace to the Red Bull’s. Expect almost a “B-spec” car before the year is out.
Unhappy Hamilton
You would have to cast your mind back quite a bit to recall a Lewis Hamilton who was just as vocally and visually unhappy in a car as he has been this year. Granted, he hasn’t had a whole lot to complain about over the better part of the last decade (one notable incident aside) but the record breaking driver has certainly found a few things this season. Not only is he hampered by the pace deficit in the W14, he is also unhappy with the driving position. Hamilton reckons it is too far forward, making him uncomfortable with a car already at a disadvantage and perhaps a reason why the immensely talented driver is finding it difficult to overcome the flaws of the package he has been given, as he did on so many occasions in the W13 last season.
With a best result of second place in Australia, in a Grand Prix which the W14 was actually competitive, the one big positive is that he has so far outscored his teammate, although that will not mean much to such a compeitive winner. Hamilton will be pushing the team hard to make sure the planned upgrades deliver, this is a man not used to fighting for 5th and 6th. The multiple world champion currently sits in 4th in the drivers’ standings with 56 points.
Russell trying to tame his lame horse…
With a victory at the tail end of the 2022 season and Mercedes appearing to be finding their feet again after a tricky start to the new regulations in this ground effect era, George Russell must have been positively itching to get back in the cockpit in 2023 and see if his World Championship ambitions could become a reality. When qualifying in Bahrain ended and he was 6 tenths of a second off of the pole time, those ambitions started to look like they may have to be postponed for a bit.
Though he trails his teammate on points currently, it has to be said that Russell has looked the racier of the two Mercedes drivers and was looking like he was on for a great finish in Melbourne prior to his W14 letting him down in a cloud of smoke and the red flag for Albon’s crash.
The younger Brit has not held back in his comments on the capability (or lack thereof) of his car this year, labelling it a “lame horse”. He is currently sitting 6th in championship on 40 points, though on the face of what we’ve seen from Russell so far this year and since joining Mercedes – expect him to work hard and maybe even outscore Hamilton before the year is out.
Wolff’s new direction
Like his drivers, Team Principal Toto Wolff has not censored his feelings when it comes to the performance of the team’s 2023 challenger. Just as it is odd to see Lewis Hamilton struggling in a car, so it is odd to see his boss having to address such a problem. Despite the “no blame culture” at the team, it was felt that change had to be made and James Allison returned to his old role as Technical Director to usher in the changes to the W14 over the rest of the season and steer the development path into calmer waters. He has been quick to point out that there is no one thing that can turn the team’s fortunes around and that consistent upgrades are required to allow the team to fight it out at the top end regularly once again. Though we now have to wait until Monaco to see the first wave of these upgrades, it’s clear that Wolff will ensure that no stone is unturned when it comes to reducing the gap to the rampaging Red Bull team.
