Mercedes chief strategist James Vowles insists that the entire outfit is working hard to make big strides as the season progresses.
After eight years of domination, Mercedes are finally starting to understand what every other team felt like all this time. They are coming on the back of their eighth successive Constructors’ Title, but it’s highly unlikely that they’ll go nine in a row.
Ferrari and Red Bull have made cars that are a lot faster than Mercedes. Three races in, they’re second behind the former. However, that’s more due to Red Bull’s reliability issues, than their own raw pace.
George Russell’s arrival in the team has also stirred up the environment significantly. The 23-year old is outperforming his legendary teammate Lewis Hamilton, and some notable figures like Mika Hakkinen feel that it will cause troubles within.
Despite what it seems like from the outside, the Silver Arrows are confident that they’re moving in the right direction. Their chief strategist James Vowles recently spoke about how they’re working overtime at their factory, to out-develop their rivals.
Also read: Former F1 World Champion claims Lewis Hamilton will be thinking about leaving Mercedes
Competitors will improve as the season progresses, but so will Mercedes
The Mercedes chief went on to talk about how their struggles are being misinterpreted. He lauds the people working at their HQ and factory for helping the team in their quest to charge up the field.
“I think often people see the race team on TV and think that’s the entire team,” he said. “It’s not. We are fortunate to have a base in Brackley, and in Brixworth. With hundreds of people working every hour they possibly can to make this racing car fast, competitive and a championship winner.”
Class. 👏 @LewisHamilton pic.twitter.com/5C7EkpQFKt
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 14, 2022
“The work that goes on between races is enormous. There is a turnaround of components, there are upgrades, there is an understanding of problems that we have and how do we move the performance forward both on the PU side and also on the chassis side.”
Vowles then spoke about the prospect of their rivals potentially developing their car even further. Even if Mercedes improve, it’s more than likely that Red Bull and Ferrari will do the same, if not more.
“I suspect you will see an evolution of our competitors,” the 42-year old said. We need to make sure we, at the very minimum, keep up with that.”
