(Motorsport) After an underwhelming 2022 season, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is hopeful that his team can develop the 2023 car W14 faster than their rivals Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari in order to get back into contention for the Championships in the upcoming season. The 2022 car W13 suffered from porpoising and underperformance, resulting in the Silver Arrows missing out on the Constructors Championship for the first time in eight years while seven time World Champion Lewis Hamilton failed to win a single race last season.
With pre-season testing and the 2023 season approaching, Wolff is optimistic about the development of the W14 car so that they can be in contention right from the start. Moreover, Red Bull Racing have received a penalty of a 10% reduction in wind tunnel testing after breaching the 2021 budget cap regulations, which means Mercedes can capitalise on the opportunity to gain the advantage. The W14 will be unveiled on February 15th and the opening Grand Prix of the season will take place in Bahrain from March 3-5.
“We have no doubt, when you are starting behind by half a second, it’s going to be difficult to catch up to great organisations like Red Bull and Ferrari. We have no doubt, when you are starting behind by half a second, it’s going to be difficult to catch up to great organisations like Red Bull and Ferrari. If we perform in the way we hope, then we’d like to be part of the racing at the very front. I think that would be a starting point, but we don’t take that for granted, it could well be that the gaps are like they were at the end of last season.
“But I think there is still so much potential that’s within our car – within the concept, the way we drive the car… that maybe our development slope can be steeper in the months to come. I think we have understood how we fell back and where the shortcomings are. We have gaps in understanding and we’re working hard on putting a car on the ground that has addressed all of that. But we will only see when starting testing whether we have unlocked the potential that we always believe has been in the car.” – Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff
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