Since last year for the Mercedes the need for a longer period of time to solve the many problems that afflicted the W13 was evident, both for a question of budget cap and because they needed a more in-depth study. “Once we figured out what we needed to do, it took a huge amount of work to progress“, said technical director Mike Elliott during the presentation, adding: “Towards the end of 2022 we noticed an improvement in performance and winter allowed us a reset. We did all the things we wanted to do on the W13 last year but couldn’t do due to lack of resources or because we turned our attention to other issues.”. And so we could work on overall weight reduction (also implemented thanks to the black color), but also on the search for a more uniform balance of the car, trying to make the aerodynamic characteristics of the W14 adhere to the regulatory requirements. A was therefore produced significantly lighter frameone new front suspension geometry, cooling system tuning and an aerodynamic concept based on what we learned last year. Elliott again: “With this generation of cars, performance is all in the details. If we look at the W14 we observe the DNA of the W13, but also an evolution of it and an improvement of the details”.
Chapter power units, Mercedes focused their work on reliability and software. This is confirmed by Hywel Thomas, managing director of the engine department: “Recently we managed to get the most out of performancethanks to the way we use the engine, thanks to a software update. Knowing that this was our last development opportunity, we gave it our all“. The work of the Frecce d’Argento technicians also focused on the effects that jolts had on reliability: “At the end of the championship the engines were battered and dented. We have made important changes on reliability, to make us more solid in the event of collisions with the car”.
The Bahrain tests at the end of February will be a very important turning point for the whole of 2023: “Last year we were unable to improve the balance of the car. All the normal work that we did at the beginning of the season couldn’t be done because of the problems we were trying to solve. It will be important to learn as much as possible, both to understand how to get the most out of the car’s performance and to plan future developments“Explained Elliott.
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