Mercedes Brings In The Big Guns For W14 Development As Old Technical Director Breaks Cover
Mercedes' Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff, has acknowledged that the team's performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix was some of the worst the team's ever seen and has now called for immediate action to be taken. The Brackley team has been struggling with a lack of downforce in the W14, causing a fall in rankings to fourth place in the World Championship, behind Red Bull, Aston Martin, and Ferrari.
Despite the bad news, the team is not giving up, and instead, is working tirelessly to identify the issues and develop a strategy to get back on top. Despite the setback, there is hope in the team that they will be able to recover and challenge their rivals.
Wolff has highlighted the importance of addressing the aerodynamics of the W14, with the team experiencing difficulty in the fast corners. The Austrian has praised Aston Martin's AMR23 while admitting that they've done a better job than the German team despite sharing the same gearbox, engine, rear suspension, and eve wind tunnel. This has pushed Toto to focus on the front of the car instead, as well as the dreaded zero-pod sides.
The team's technical staff, led by Mike Elliott, is under pressure to identify the areas for improvement in the W14 project, so they've called in an old friend by the name of James Allison. Allison was Mercedes' Technical Director before Elliot, designing some of the best cars the team had ever seen, and has since moved to a CTO role. But with the heat starting to reach boiling point behind the pit wall of the Constructor, Mercedes is utilising every possibility to regain dominance on the track.
Despite the challenges, there is optimism in the team that they can turn things around. Hamilton's impressive speed of 324.4 km/h at the speed trap in qualifying, and 333.4 km/h in the race, has shown that the maximum speed is not the issue when compared to the Red Bull and Ferrari cars.
Increasing downforce while minimising drag is the aim of the game for Mercedes, while also analysis how Red Bull can manage their tyres so well. But this is much more easily said than done.