George Russell says he’s confident Mercedes has done its due diligence on its 2024 challenger and “won’t fall into the same traps” it did in 2023 when it rushed the design of its W14 car.
Mercedes' surprising decision to retain for 2023 its "zero-sidepod" design and overall car concept from the 2022 W13 was partly fueled by Russell's victory at the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix.
However, the W14's struggles were evident from the start of last year’s campaign, prompting a swift change in direction.
This was done at the Monaco Grand Prix where the Brackley squad rolled out a heavily revised W14 that adopted the trendy downwash sidepod concept initiated by Red Bull.
While progress ensued, Mercedes concluded the season second in the championship behind Red Bull but without a race win to its name.
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As Mercedes seeks to take the fight to the bulls this season, team boss Toto Wolff suggested that his outfit has taken a more holistic approach to the design of its 2024 contender.
At F1’s season finale in Abu Dhabi, Wolff gave a heads up on his team’s efforts to turn around its fortunes.
“So we are changing the concept, we are completely moving away from how we laid out the chassis, the weight distribution, the airflow, I mean literally there is almost every component that has been changed because only by doing that do we have a chance,” he revealed at the time.
“We could get it wrong also, so between not gaining what we expect to catching up, making a big step and competing at the front, everything is possible.”
But Russell explained why he is confident that Mercedes can deliver the goods.
“Mercedes has been working on the new [W15] concept for a long time and there’s been so much due diligence gone into that concept,” he said.
“Whereas I think last year it was all a little bit rushed.
“We didn’t have all the information to hand, we may have jumped to a couple of conclusions without thoroughly going through the consequences.
“And we learned when the car hit the ground this year that we made a step forward in some regards, but it came with a lot of baggage and we hadn’t taken that into consideration.
“So, I think we’ve done a great job to truly understand what we need.”
©Mercedes
Catching Red Bull – let alone overhauling the reigning world champions – is a tall order, not only for Mercedes but for all its F1 rivals.
But Russell’s confidence in the W15 reflects the team's return to thorough analysis and methodical development.
“We’ve obviously had a further 12 months’ experience to further understand the car and what brings the performance.
“I think last year we put all our eggs in one basket and that wasn’t a basket that provided the performance we were expecting.
“[But], the fact is we’ve got to close a huge gap.
“The Red Bull dominance this year is probably the greatest - I think statistically it is the most dominant car ever, so we’ve all got a huge task on our hands.
“But I’m going into next year with an open mind.
“I don’t think anyone’s expecting either us, McLaren, Aston Martin or Ferrari to make that step straightaway.
“But [I’m] definitely confident we won’t fall into some of the same traps we did this [last] year.”
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