Photo by Cristiano Barni ATPImages/Getty Images
Mercedes has improved, but will wins follow?
After a slow start to their 2023 Formula 1 season, Mercedes brought some long-anticipated upgrades to the W14 with them to the Monaco Grand Prix.
Since them, the team has seen marked improvement in results on the track. Entering the Monaco GP, Mercedes was in third place in the Constructors’ standings, six points behind Aston Martin. Now with eight races in the books, the Silver Arrows have inched into second place, sitting 13 points clear of Aston Martin. Along the way, Mercedes notched their first double podium of the year, with Lewis Hamilton finishing second and George Russell behind him in third, in the Spanish Grand Prix.
Despite Russell’s retirement in last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, Hamilton scored his third podium of the season, finishing third behind Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso. Now, the team is aiming higher, and believes that some even better results are in their future.
“It’s really nice to be now racing at least for podiums, being able to show what we’re capable of doing,” said Mike Elliott, the team’s Chief Technical Officer, in their post-race video debrief.
“Hopefully we can turn that into more upgrades, more performance over the races to come and hopefully start fighting for some victories by the end of the season,” he added.
One reason why the team is optimistic? The characteristics of some of the upcoming circuits. The Canadian Grand Prix features a number of low-speed turns along with some long straights, a setup that has caused the W14, even with some recent upgrades, some problems.
After his third-place finish, Hamilton was chatting with Verstappen and Alonso in the cool-down room ahead of the podium ceremony, and shared a rather frank admission about the W14. “We suck in the low-speed corners,” said Hamilton. “That’s where you’re just destroying me, out of the low-speed – actually pretty much all the corners.”
Hamilton also discussed the W14’s issues in the low-speed corners in his trackside interview following the Canadian GP.
“I was really excited to be third and just trying to be in that mix. But unfortunately, we didn’t have the pace today. I think where we struggle… I mean, we knew that this weekend, this wouldn’t be our strongest circuit, as we struggle in the lower-speed corners particularly,” said Hamilton.
“And that’s really where I was losing to Fernando and to Max, just on traction out of Turn 2, out of pretty much every corner,” he added. “We’ve got a lot of work to do just to add rear downforce to the car and a little bit more efficiency, but we’re chipping away as I said, and I do believe we will get there at some stage.”
Elliott agreed with that assessment in the video, and pointed to two upcoming races that could be better suited for the W14.
“I think where we’ve seen the car struggling is more the low-speed corners. So if we start looking at circuits that’ve got more medium and high-speed content, I think we’ll do better there,” said Elliott. “So Silverstone would be a good example of that. Austria shouldn’t be too bad for us either, so let’s hope we go well in both of those.”
The circuit heads to the Red Bull Ring for next weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix. That is the home race for Red Bull, but the configuration of the track should pair well with the current performance of the W14:
F1.com
Red Bull Ring
The Red Bull Ring was the site of a strong finish from the Silver Arrows last season, as Hamilton notched a third-place finish with Russell behind him in fourth.
Following that? Mercedes’ home race, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Another track the team believes suits their current performance. Last season saw Hamilton finish third at Silverstone, while Russell was involved in a scary first-lap crash with Zhou Guanyu that flipped the Alfa Romeo driver’s car, sending it upside down into the barrier.
So while the team’s recent form has shown progress, it seems now it is time to turn progress into victories. These next two races could be pivotal for Mercedes.
