Mercedes F1 Team Will Copy Red Bull: "I Don't Care" Says Toto Wolff
Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, has made it clear that he's not bothered if their quest for a more competitive car results in a design that mirrors Red Bull's. The priority for the team is to create the fastest possible race car, regardless of its appearance, and if that means copying Red Bull, then "I don't care", he says.
Turning the W14 Upside-Down: Embracing Radical Change
The Brackley squad has come to terms with the fact that a major overhaul of its W14 design is necessary after failing to meet their progress expectations at the beginning of the 2023 season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The W14's unique zeropod design, a key feature that's remained from its predecessor, could be replaced by a design that echoes Red Bull's successful cars, which have claimed 11 victories in the last 12 races and took home the Constructor championship in 2022.
Wolff expressed his open-mindedness about the car's appearance during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix's qualifying session, saying:
"We have no dogmatism of how the car should look like. It just needs to be the quickest possible race car. If that looks like a Red Bull… I don’t care. It just needs to be quick."
He continued, adding that he'd feel "no shame" if the team copied the Milton Keynes outfit and it worked.
Rethinking the Aerodynamics: A Complete Overhaul
The team is reevaluating every aspect of the car's design, moving beyond its unique sidepods. Wolff elaborated:
"It is all the aerodynamic surfaces that are visible from the leading edge all the way to the diffuser and the beam wing. There is a massive amount on the floor, obviously, with a ground effect car.
"And then there are many more architectural things that are necessary in order to give it the bodywork that you think is most efficient.
"So, literally, the car is being turned upside-down at the moment, and there's a lot of goodness that we see."
He continued, discussing how Mercedes managed to miss the mark:
"I think you're trying to fire it right in the target and the first time we missed it on the left and looked at the target again and the next time we missed it on the right," he said.
"So that's a bit where we are."
Lewis Hamilton's Hindsight: Regret and Reflection
On Thursday, Lewis Hamilton expressed his belief that Mercedes made a mistake with their latest car's design when he saw how different it was from their rivals'. It seems the team is now ready to embrace a new direction in pursuit of speed, even if that means emulating the winning formula of Red Bull.