Renowned F1 commentator Ted Kravitz dissed the “awful” Mercedes W14 after the conclusion of the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP. The British F1 expert, however, took his time to also praise Lewis Hamilton and George Russell for claiming P2 in the Constructors’ championship with this car.
Kravitz said in the post-race commentary as per deni on X, “Goodbye W14 and good riddance, you were an awful car and didn’t win any races. I don’t think it even deserved P2.”
The W14 was indeed an “awful” car to not only Hamilton and Russell but also Toto Wolff. The two Mercedes drivers regularly criticized the car and Wolff himself jumped onto the bandwagon to call it a “sh*tbox.” However, the Silver Arrows’ closest rivals such as Ferrari, McLaren, and Aston Martin also had their bad days, which didn’t make the entire season a failure for Mercedes.
As rivals also kept losing points, Mercedes used this opportunity to slowly amass points for the championship, which came in handy in the season finale. Hamilton and Co. were able to hold on to P2 by the finest of margins. Now, with the season finally over, they can finally heave a sigh of relief.
Lewis Hamilton and Co. gearing up for big changes for the 2024 F1 season
The 2023 F1 season has been a bittersweet outing for Mercedes. Even though they claimed P2 in the Constructors’ championship, they finished the season winless. This was in stark contrast to last season where they lost P2 to Ferrari but had a win in Brazil to brag for.
Nevertheless, the Silver Arrows would be looking forward to forgetting this season, and focus on a much better future. According to reports, James Allison and his men want to scrap the entire idea of the W14.
Russell already had a simulation run on it [the W15] and the British driver shared positive feedback. They are expected to bring this mega change in order to rectify the drag, brake, and balance of the car.
Notably, Ferrari and McLaren are also expected to bring better upgrades by the time F1 returns next season. Despite everything, Red Bull are expected to continue their dominance.
