Can Mercedes break Formula 1's cycle of doom?
OPINION: Teams that have dominated for long periods throughout Formula 1's history often take years to get back to the top of the tree once they've slipped down. But it remains to be seen whether the same will happen to Mercedes after a challenging 2022 season
While the W13 will not go down in the history books as one of Mercedes’ greatest cars, it would equally be wrong to say that it was a complete flop. For while there were some clear weaknesses, especially at the start of the season as engineers battled to cure its porpoising, there were some strengths to the package too.
Indeed, give it the right type of circuit, with the right combination of high and low speed corners, not too long a straight, and not too many bumps, and the spec of car over the final section of the championship was able to gun for wins.
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Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.
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