How Mercedes' new F1 upgrades fared - and what's next for the revitalised W14

By:

Jake Boxall-Legge

May 31, 2023, 8:44 AM

The eagerly anticipated upgrades that Mercedes had intended to debut at Imola made a belated appearance at Monaco after the Italian round's cancellation.

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Mercedes' persistence in continuing with its egregiously named "zero-pod" sidepods was admirable. Simulations and wind tunnel data suggested that the distinctly shrink-wrapped bodywork could offer gallons of performance, if it could simply be unshackled by the engineers. Unfortunately for the Mercedes designers, this was like trying to nail a jelly to the wall.

Last year's W13 chassis, the first attempt at a car with those sidepods, was plagued by issues that caused the drivers great discomfort in its willingness to bounce like a space hopper along the straights, and great uncertainty on the brakes. A season's worth of continued development transformed the car from a troubled teen into a race winner, but it could be argued that George Russell's visit to the top step in Brazil offered false hope.

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Jake Boxall-Legge F1 Writer

Jake studied engineering at university, as his original ambition was to design racing cars. He was bad at that, and thus decided to write about them instead with an equally limited skillset. The above article is a demonstration of that. In his spare time, Jake enjoys people, places, and things.