Mercedes raised eyebrows when they arrived with a new floor in Monaco this season. Finally ditching their unique zero sidepod concept, the Silver Arrows walked the path of Red Bull and Ferrari, even if it cost them “a lot of money.”
As the German team went on to make the significant move, they managed to build up on the change and brought out their best-ever performance in Circuit de Catalunya this year with a double podium.
Notably, the change that was made wasn’t orchestrated by Toto Wolff, the Mercedes AMG team principal. In a recently revealed report, the Austrian said that a unanimous decision by the team resulted in the W14 overhaul.
Wolff, who’s the boss of the team, hardly has a say over the Technical Director or Chief Technical Officer of the team when it comes to the car. And as a result, he agreed with the team to change the concept after having a whole year of shock.
Wolff agreed on the move despite the risk involved
As the decision was taken for the overhaul, Wolff knew the amount of risk involved. If it backfires and they’re over the limit, the situation will be anything but pretty.
Talking about this, the Austrian boss shared with Next Gen Auto, “As I said, I think it took us the shock of the beginning of the year to understand that the old concept would not go any further. It really shook us up.”
Miles on the clock for W14. 🖤📈 pic.twitter.com/YO0UqopGR4
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) June 6, 2023
“The decision ultimately comes from everyone, I also had to agree because it costs a lot of money. But I didn’t make the decision because I had had enough,” further stated the 51-year-old boss.
Mercedes is already on Red Bull’s radar
Admittedly, Mercedes wasn’t sure if the new concept would work. With such a risk taken already, Red Bull is breathing down their neck if they’ve already breached the $130,000,000 limit of the budget cap.
Christian Horner on Mercedes' new upgrades 😅 pic.twitter.com/UpBn74s1NF
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) June 7, 2023
After developing through the winter and then bringing out new parts requires a massive budget and once the budget cap is breached, huge punishment awaits. However, the Brackley-based team is confident they are within the limit so far.
As things stand, the W14s look promising when it comes to performance against its competitors from Ferrari or Aston Martin. Even though they still have a long way to go before they beat Red Bull, the progress made so far seems to be on a positive trajectory.
