Lewis Hamilton says he's hopes that Mercedes "finds a trick" that allows its W14 to leap forward but the Briton insists he's also aware that catching up with Red Bull could be the work of a full season.
Although Mercedes has achieved a step forward this year, thanks to fielding a much more stable car compared to last year's bucking bronco W13, the performance level of its 2023 black arrow is still well under that of Red Bull's dominant RB19.
The Brackley squad is now hard at work revising the zero sidepod concept of its W14 and will implement significant changes in the coming months in a bid to catch up with its Red Bull arch-rival.
Only time will tell how much lost ground Mercedes will be able to make up by the summer, but Hamilton hopes that a sudden breakthrough will accelerate its car's development cycle.
"There’s a part of me that is just hopeful that we find a trick and we’re straight onto the right track that’s not far away from the others," the Briton said.
"We’ve shown in the past that we can develop quickly, and I hope that that’s the case during this, as the potential of the car opens up, the guys can go full steam ahead in that direction."
However, Hamilton knows that hope isn't a strategy, and the seven-time world champion is fully aware that catching up to Red Bull could be a lengthy effort, especially as its rival won't be standing still, even despite the aero development constraints imposed upon it by the FIA's cost cap penalty.
"I’m grateful that they are open to making a shift and not being stuck with what we have," Hamilton said of his team's resolve.
"And I’m aware that it could take a long time to catch a car that, if you look at the Red Bull, is just going to continue to evolve most likely, although some cars do plateau in terms of performance at some point, it just can’t keep going, but maybe it can.
"They’ve got a great team around them, so I’m sure they’ll continue to add downforce. So yeah, we’ve just got to make sure that when we do make the change, hopefully the jump isn’t too far.
"It’s going to take us the rest of the year for sure to potentially close that gap."
©Mercedes
This week, Mercedes reshuffled its engineering department, bringing James Allison back to the front line and putting him in command of its technical team on a day-by-day basis while assigning Mike Elliott to the broader role of chief technology officer.
While the changes are as much about addressing the present as they are about tackling the future, it remains to be seen what impact they will have in the short term.
"This was very much driven by Mike Elliott owning the process," commented Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
"So, we have reversed the roles. Mike has moved up to CTO, as he has a brilliant switched-on scientific mind. And James Allison has returned to his technical director position, reporting into Mike.
©Mercedes
"It's about creating a structure that can be sustainably successful going into the next generation," added Wolff.
"We're seeing huge changes in the technical developments, artificial intelligence and machine learning. And at the same time, looking at how is a modern Formula 1 team going to be organised and structured: what kind of innovation can be brought in.
"Mike sees himself very much in his sweet spot there and obviously he's a super capable engineer, very credible and respected in the organisation. He is going to be a coach and sparring partner for the most senior people.
"And I'm actually very happy that Mike took this decision by himself to put himself in this role, with both him and James coming to this conclusion, as we are having both of them in their genius."
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