The Brackley-based team has gone out of its way to change their fortunes, implementing some radical improvements according to the lessons they learned from the past season, where the W14 was referred to as a “difficult car” to drive by Wolff, Russell and Hamilton.
“I am excited that we’re about to go racing again and, of course, curious and excited to see how the car will perform. I think we will get an early indication of whether we have solved some of the inherent problems that we had on the chassis side last year. We have a mountain to climb to get to the front of the field, but we are focused on doing so,” said Toto Wolff when asked about his general thoughts about 2024.
The Austrian mentioned that it has been a rocky journey for the team since 2023, as they had a tough time figuring out the pain points of W14 through the season and taking big steps to improve W15. Talking about the team’s journey, he said, “It won’t be a linear path, but when we stumble, we will get back up and keep on climbing.”
Mercedes has had two tough seasons consecutively. Acknowledging the fact that the team has created a record of winning consecutive championships in the past, he also mentioned that when the time comes, a single bad performance or season can throw all the previous glory out the window. As the team principal said, the Silver Arrows had to “readjust, recalibrate, and reinvent ourselves in certain areas” in 2022 and 2023.
Respected Technical Director James Allison returned to the position last year as Mike Elliott had taken that role in the early stages of the ground effect era.
The Brit has worked with some of the greatest teams on the paddock, which include Ferrari, Team Enstone and Mercedes. Wolff believes that he is a great leader. According to him, re-signing Allison as Technical Director puts the team in good hands for the foreseeable future.
Allison played an important role in identifying problems with the W14, like on the rear axle of the car, which was changed on the W15 as Hamilton and Russell look for a more consistent balance.
The Mercedes W14’s unstable rear axle proved to be a major deterrent to the team’s performance. They did away with the ‘no sidepod’ concept, which gave them a new and unique foothold in re-designing the car. Allison said that they have closely worked on reducing the car’s drag and improving the DRS, amongst other technical changes in W15.
Wolff also spoke on Hamilton’s shock departure, admitting once again the door was open to the 103-time Grand Prix winner because of the nature of his contract. Seven-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton has signed a multi-year contract to drive with Ferrari in 2025 after a 12-season run with the Silver Arrows.
Wolff said, “When we signed the contract with Lewis, we opted for a shorter term. So, the events are not a surprise; maybe the timing is. How he framed it to me is perfectly understandable—that he needed a new challenge, that he was looking for a different environment, and that it was maybe the last possibility to do something else.”
However, Hamilton’s timing of parting ways with Mercedes took Wolff and the F1 industry off-guard. He added, “Clearly, the timing was surprising to us. But I guess what he tried to do is maybe give us a long time to decide what we want to do next year going forward.”
All things said and done, Mercedes and Wolff want to make sure that the Brit’s last season with the team is memorable and that they are able to provide him with a car that is capable of winning races at the very least.
