Mercedes aims to reveal the car’s innate capabilities during testing

Mercedes has provided the most explicit indication of the design approach they are taking for their new car for the 2023 Formula 1 season.

The eight-time champions, who finished in third place in the standings last year, have sparked speculation that they would abandon the unique “zeropod” design they used in the previous season. However, the team has previously suggested that they are not planning to discard this philosophy, suggesting that they believe the issues that hindered their W13 car were not related to its design.

Team Principal Toto Wolff has said that Mercedes will go into pre-season testing this year with the intention of unlocking the full performance capabilities of its unique design, which they believe has the potential to deliver strong results. This statement from the team principal confirms that Mercedes is still convinced in the concept behind the design and wants to extract the performance from it.

“I believe we have identified why we fell behind and where our weaknesses were, where we had gaps in understanding, and we are working hard to produce a car that addresses all of those issues,” Wolff stated to media outlets, including RaceFans.

“However, we will only know if we have succeeded in unlocking the potential that we believe the car always had when we begin testing,” Wolff added.

Mercedes will unveil their W14 on February 15th. The only pre-season test, which will last for three days, will commence in Bahrain on February 23rd.

Wolff also warned that the team still has a lot of work to do to improve its performance and to be able to compete with dominant champions Red Bull and runner-up Ferrari in 2022.

“It’s going to be a challenging task to catch up with teams like Red Bull or Ferrari when you’re starting half a second behind,” Wolff said.

Wolff acknowledged that Mercedes may start the new season as far behind their closest competitors as they were during the Abu Dhabi race two months ago.

“However, we are highly determined to close the gap, but we must have realistic expectations. If we perform as we hope, then we want to be a part of the front-running pack. I believe that would be a solid starting point,” Wolff said.

“We don’t take that for granted. It’s possible that the gap between us and the other teams will be similar to what it was at the end of last season. But I believe there is still a lot of potential within our car, in the concept, and in the way we drive the car, etc. that maybe our development progress can be more rapid in the coming months,” Wolff added.

Read also : Wolff predicts swift end to Hamilton contract talks

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Mercedes aims to reveal the car’s innate capabilities during testing. Mercedes aims to reveal the car’s innate capabilities during testing.