Mercedes are bringing new upgrades for their W14 at this weekend’s British Grand Prix to try and regain the momentum they enjoyed in Spain and Canada, but clearly lost in Austria.
Mercedes are bringing new upgrades for their W14 at this weekend’s British Grand Prix to try and regain the momentum they enjoyed in Spain and Canada, but clearly lost in After a miserable Austrian Grand Prix, the eight-time Formula 1 constructors’ champions are looking to push their momentum forward, as they gear up for their drivers’ – Lewis Hamilton and George Russell – home race in Silverstone this weekend, which is also a home race for the team based in Brackley, very close to Silverstone.
With the first set of upgrades arriving on the car at the Monaco Grand Prix, performance seemed to look good for Mercedes, especially in Barcelona where they achieved a double podium, while Hamilton was third in Canada.
Recent race pace however, has still left much to be desired, after they were beaten by Ferrari and McLaren at the Red Bull ring last week, not to mention Hamilton’s post race track limits penalty.
More car upgrades are on the horizon for the Silver Arrows this coming weekend, as the team look to close the gap in the 2023 F1 Championship leaders Red Bull and Max Verstappen, and put the W14 in a much more competitive state.
“We’re pleased to get back racing after a bruising weekend in Austria,” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said in the team’s British Grand Prix review.
“We scored a handful of points, but we didn’t have the pace for much more. The field behind Red Bull is incredibly close and also fluctuating each weekend. Some of this is circuit-specific, and some the upgrade cycle across the grid. We fell on the wrong side of this equation in Spielberg, but we’ve got a chance to bounce back immediately.
The team took the result in Austria on the chin
“The team has been hard at work to analyse and draw learnings from our performance. We have taken the result on the chin and will aim to recapture the momentum we had built up across previous races.
“With the next upgrades and experiments coming in Silverstone, there are reasons for optimism,” Wolff claimed, “Nevertheless, we are not getting ahead of ourselves. We’re focused on the job at hand, extracting performance from the car, and will see where we stand this weekend.
“The British Grand Prix is one of the highlights of the season. The atmosphere at Silverstone is unique and the support from the fans is truly incredible. It’s also our local race, with the track just down the road from the factories in Brackley and Brixworth.
“It’s a fast and flowing layout which creates great racing, so hopefully we can perform well and put on a good show,” concluded Wolff.
While Mercedes was fighting with Aston Martin for the second-best status behind Red Bull, Austria showed that Ferrari has jumped them, while McLaren who brought a major upgrade to the last race seem to be on the rise as well.
Mercedes might be bringing a new upgrade this weekend, but so are McLaren, while one can’t expect Aston Martin and Ferrari to be resting on their laurels.