Mercedes’ technical director James Allison has made an audacious claim after signing a new three-year deal with the team. The 55-year-old has boldly questioned Adrian Newey’s ability to improve the performance of the RB20 after its predecessor dominated the 2023 campaign. The Milton Keynes outfit obliterated the field last year as they won a record 21 out of 22 races. Although Red Bull are undoubtedly the team to beat going into 2024, Allison believes that they do not have much room to improve.
The British engineer has made these remarks despite Newey having claimed that they have found a way to extract much more potential from the RB20. While speaking to motorsport.com (as quoted by f1maximaal.nl), Allison said,
“That upper limit is much clearer than with the old cars, which became faster and faster the more time you spent on them, without a clear ceiling. I think if you look at 2023, you will see that Red Bull dominated from the beginning to the end of the season and still did not look vulnerable in the last race, but you still notice that the grid is getting closer together“.
Allison’s remarks are all the more interesting as they even contradict the comments of Red Bull’s simulator driver Jake Dennis. The 28-year-old recently explained how Red Bull have an “extremely fast race car again“.
He stated that he expects the Milton Keynes outfit to win their third consecutive Constructors’ Championship in 2024 until and unless a team like Ferrari or Mercedes can discover a second per lap. Since Dennis expects Red Bull to be utterly dominant in 2024, he also expects that Max Verstappen will win his fourth consecutive championship.
As for Mercedes, it is fair to say that the last thing they will want is to see their arch-rivals be on top once again. However, while Red Bull may indeed be the favorites again, Allison has provided some optimism for the Silver Arrows fans.
James Allison explains the improvements Mercedes have made
During the same interview, James Allison explained how he is confident that Mercedes have made substantial gains over the winter break so far. He began by revealing how he expects the handling of the W15 to be much better than its predecessor.
After stating the same, Allison also stated that he hopes Mercedes have been able to make the car a bit lighter and add more downforce to reduce the gap to Red Bull. While the 55-year-old is optimistic that Mercedes have made significant improvements from the data he received from the simulator, he believes only time will tell how much progress have they actually made.
Prior to Allison making these remarks about the W15, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff also explained how his side have completely scrapped the concept of the W14 and have now taken a new approach. The Austrian believes that the same was required to have any chance of challenging Red Bull in 2024.
While Wolff is optimistic that this new concept will help his side make gains, so is seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton. The British driver stated that he has seen the car in the wind tunnel and has “full faith” in the team that they will be able to produce a “much more competitive” car for next season.
