Mercedes, as well as all the other Formula 1 teams, is focused on two fundamental fronts. The first is to fully understand the potential of the new package introduced in Monte-Carlo on the W14s to see if it could be a good basis for next year, while the second concerns the 2024 single-seater.
The innovations dedicated to the W14s have led the Frecce Nere to improve not a little in performance, especially in the race, and to fill part of the gap from the leaders.
What they know in Brackley is that although these innovations are bearing fruit, they will not be enough to bring Mercedes back to where the team’s top management wants to be. This is why it will be necessary to invest further resources to create something different, even more extensive changes that can bring Mercedes back to fighting to win races and titles.
Since Formula 1 introduced the Budget Cap, it’s even more difficult to bridge major gaps between teams. Of course, they help in dealing with seasons with reasonable amounts of money for those who manage to participate, but they also have drawbacks.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said he wasn’t worried about the cost cap. In his opinion, the team will be able to exploit the resources to face a further radical change in 2024 without exceeding the imposed limit.
“We have built a huge organization in our finance department, made up of 46 people, that monitors the cost ceiling down to the last screw,” said Wolff.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
“This organization tracks spending throughout the year and what we’ve done is allocate resources to various projects.”
“Last year we stayed below this line throughout the year and we are again this year. Considering a normal development schedule for next year, we are still pretty much in line with forecasts.”
Wolff explained that the updates introduced at the Monaco GP had a great impact on the W14s, but also that the team is still struggling with understanding the new behavior so as to have certain data to work with for 2024 ideas. , different things are already being tried in Brackley, but that won’t affect the amount of resources to spend for next season.
“The good thing is that we are constantly learning to understand what the machine does. For next year there will be some fundamental changes in the design, but we are not building something. It is rather about understanding what we are simulating, and this is not measured in money It’s about holding capacity of some components or hours in the wind tunnel,” concluded Wolff.
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