After so many announcements and a long wait, Mercedes finally showed up in the Monte Carlo pit lane with the developments it has been working on over the last few months, in order to give its season a turn and understand if the new development direction recently undertaken is the correct one.
A first package of updates that paves the way for what will come in the future, a transition phase from what has been to what will really be, when the budget allows for more profound changes. Even if it is only the first step, clearly the attention has focused above all on the W14, given the great curiosity that had been generated around the first novelties of the Star.
As anticipated by the team’s leaders themselves, Mercedes has abandoned the “zeropods” concept, opting for wider sides that are closer to the concepts seen on teams that have followed the Red Bull road, albeit not in an equally exasperated way. Several changes have also been made to the front within the limits of what the budget allows: the suspension has been revised to try to improve braking behavior, but without intervening heavily on the chassis, an aspect that would have required a further crash test.
The new sides of the Mercedes W14 introduced in Monaco
Photo by: Uncredited
So many changes that will take time to fully understand and, realistically, Monaco isn’t even the most suitable track to evaluate the goodness of all the new features. “We are obviously aware that this is a unique circuit of its kind. And we will read nothing in the performance that the new updates will show this weekend”, explained George Russell, who made no secret of waiting for the Barcelona race to get a clearer picture of the improvements made with the new package
“There are always teams that perform above normal in Monaco and those who, on the other hand, perform below expectations. You don’t design a car to be strong in Monaco. If you look at some teams from the past, like Ferrari in the last 10 years, they’ve always been very strong here. So we just have to get through the weekend, take stock once we get to Barcelona and start from there.”
Apparently, the decision to show up in Monaco with a completely new package may seem like a gamble, but the Briton doesn’t totally agree. Firstly, the changes had already been planned for Imola and taking a step back, especially as regards the changes to the front, could have been more complex than expected. The second aspect focuses on the fact that the Monaco round had been prepared on the simulator already keeping these new developments in mind: “I don’t think you can learn much from a race weekend like this. So whatever we take from this weekend, we will wait and go to Barcelona with a clean slate.”
Mercedes W14, front suspension comparison between old and new specification
Photo by: Uncredited
“It’s not necessarily risky, we just wanted to start development. Obviously it was designed for Imola last week. We would not have been content to sit here and watch and not use it. It may seem like a gamble, but it was always intended to use this package in Monaco.”
However, there is optimism at the factory, because the results obtained from the simulator work are positive. As Russell explained, the new package should guarantee greater overall load but, apart from this, one of the crucial aspects will be to make the car more predictable and stable, making it easier for those behind the wheel.
“What we’ve tried so far with the simulators has been good. It is both aerodynamics and mechanics. By aerodynamics we mean the overall downforce, which every driver and every team is trying to achieve. So it’s not said that the lap time is guaranteed, but the performance will certainly be better”.
“As far as the mechanics are concerned, we have to wait and see when we will be on track. There are arguments to say that it could give more results on the track than in the simulator, because it will help our confidence in driving the car, while in the simulator confidence is not a limit. So it’s fair to say that potentially more can be achieved on the track than on the simulator.”
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