Mercedes has been going through a tough time ever since the new regulations were introduced at the start of the 2022 season. Former F1 driver Christian Danner recently claimed that he was absolutely shocked to see how much Mercedes has been struggling recently.
After eight years of domination, Mercedes lost their crown to Red Bull in the 2022 season. The Silver Arrows failed to engineer a fast enough car under the new regulations and as a result, they lost the constructors’ championship for the first time since 2014.
However, the Brackley outfit has tried their best to resolve all the issues with their new car and make a comeback. The new upgrades introduced by Mercedes have worked wonders and they have started fighting for the podium places again. However, they are not even close to what they used to be before 2022.
Mercedes failed to make use of the best available resources
Christian Danner, who raced in F1 during the mid-1980s, revealed that it is completely devastating to see Mercedes struggling so much. This is because the team from Brackley has the best available personnel, infrastructure, and technology.
While talking to Total-Motorsport.com, Danner said, “The fact that they ended up with a misconception was shocking. The fact that they didn’t realize how bad it was is even more shocking.”
How you feeling right now, Mercedes fans? #F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/vrUOjXZr7P
— 🏎️Formula Bone🦴 (@FormulaBone) June 22, 2023
He claimed that what happened with Mercedes goes on to prove that at the end of the day, having the best resources is not what makes a team reach the top. “You need a human being who tells you and understands what it takes,” explained Danner. According to Danner, Mercedes completely got their car wrong. The zero-sidepod design simply did not work and the team should have known that beforehand.
After a struggling 2022 season, where Mercedes won only 1 race, the team decided to stick with their zero sidepod concept, which turned out to be a blunder. However, after bringing upgrades at Monaco GP, the team has shown some improvements.
Can Red Bull be chased this season?
The upgrades that Mercedes brought in Monaco worked wonders as Lewis Hamilton has already claimed two podium places since. However, the gap to Red Bull is still quite large.
Some pics about Lewis Hamilton’s podium at the Canadian Grand Prix! pic.twitter.com/MCUSbpx3OF
— Osservatore Sportivo (@OsOfficialF1) June 21, 2023
The Brackley-based team has claimed that they would be able to close down the gap with one more upgrade, and a major upgrade is set to arrive at Silverstone. Therefore, the Silverstone race will be the most anticipated race of the season for Mercedes fans.
The Silver Arrows are also slowly shifting their focus to 2024 after accepting that Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s gap is big enough to cover this season. If everything goes well, we might see the Red Bull-Mercedes battle back in 2024.
