Imagine being the most dominant team F1 has ever seen over multiple years and then suddenly being stripped of that image. That’s precisely what happened with Mercedes in 2022 when the new ground-effect rules came into effect. After Lewis Hamilton lost the world championship to Max Verstappen under controversial circumstances in 2021, Mercedes was expected to come out with a bang. And it did seem that way.

While most cars followed a certain way around the new regulations, Mercedes came out with a wild car design known as the Zeropod concept. Everyone in the paddock was shocked by it and expected Mercedes to dominate like it had been since 2014. Even the simulation numbers showed that the Zeropod concept had great potential. But that wasn’t the case in real life. 

This was the start of all the problems for Mercedes that carried themselves into the 2023 season. Let’s look at the weaknesses of the W14 and why it didn’t live up to its potential. 

Continuation of the Zeropod concept and lagging behind Red Bull in development

Just after the first race of the 2023 season, Lewis Hamilton fired shots at his team, stressing how he advised his team about the problems with the Zeropod concept. Yet, the team continued on the same path and philosophy. Mercedes carried over the Zeropod concept into the 2023 season, with the W14 believing in their simulation data and regulations of increasing the minimum ride height to avoid porpoising. 

Soon after the Bahrain Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton asked Mercedes to scrap the Zeropod concept and start over again. Even Toto Wolff agreed with his driver and revealed that Mercedes was onto a Plan B already. This meant that all the winter upgrades around the ZeroPod had gone in the bin, and the Silver Arrows had to start all over again, pushing them back in terms of development compared to a team like Red Bull. 

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Nonetheless, the Spec B W14 did show promising signs. However, there were issues that Mercedes couldn’t sort out in between the season due to the cost cap and the limited aerodynamic resources allocated to a team. 

“No Such Thing as Winter Break”: Mercedes Doubles Down on Upgrades as Lewis Hamilton Awaits Silver Lining

Cockpit position, underdeveloped floor, and more: All the issues that plagued the W14

Mercedes introduced the Spec B W14 at the Monaco GP. While no significant improvements were seen in Monaco, Mercedes kept bringing new parts and adding to the new design philosophy over the next few races. Toward the end of the first half, Mercedes solidified itself as the second-best team on the grid. Toto Wolff explained how the new concept had given them the right direction in terms of development. However, there were still flaws with the concept that could only be addressed in a new season.

Lewis Hamilton aggressively complained about the seating position in the W14. He revealed that it was much more forward in position than the competitors. That made him feel disconnected from the car, unable to sense what was going on with the rear of the car. The cockpit position was to accommodate the Zeropod concept, and a new cockpit couldn’t be designed due to the cost cap. Mercedes instead brought a new front suspension to counter the issue, which seemed to have worked. Somewhat.

Another major issue was the underfloor. When Sergio Perez crashed at the Monaco GP, the whole paddock saw Adrian Newey’s mastermind, i.e., the floor of the RB19, a work of art. Comparing that to Mercedes’ floor, the Silver Arrows were nowhere near the Red Bull. The basic philosophy behind the floor and the sidepod is to create a pressure difference—low pressure underneath the car and a higher pressure above the floor, around the side pods. 

The inefficient floor created another issue for the Brackley stable. Since the floor wasn’t producing enough downforce, Mercedes had to stick higher downforce wings on the cars that made the W14 draggy. As a result, the W14 lacked straight-line speed and was a sitting duck in the DRS zones. Regardless, with the 2023 season ending and the W14 in the bin, will Mercedes be able to solve all the issues and challenge Red Bull next year?

What to expect from the 2024 Mercedes F1 challenger?

Mercedes was expected to start the 2023 season off with a bang. But the combination of Red Bull’s brilliance and Mercedes’ inability to follow the right path meant the Silver Arrows were nowhere near the Bulls. However, going into 2024, Mercedes seems to have learned from its mistake. The Spec B car from 2023 gave the team the right direction to follow for the future. However, the car won’t be anything like the W14, Toto Wolff explained. 

While talking about the 2024 car, Wolff said, “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’s almost every component that’s being changed because only by doing that, I think we have a chance. We could get it wrong also. So, between not gaining what we expect, catching up, making a big step, and competing in the front, everything is possible.”

Mercedes brought a new floor for the US GP that gave the car huge chunks of performance. However, Hamilton was disqualified from the race for having too much wear on the plank. This led to Mercedes running the car too high for the race in Brazil, which made the floor ineffective. The US GP floor was believed to be a step toward the 2024 car. 

The dominance of Red Bull and the fact that the team has been working on the 2024 car since August suggests it’ll be difficult for any other team to beat them. However, Red Bull has the least aerodynamic testing time. We already saw this year with McLaren that if a team gets the concept right, it isn’t hard to gain a second of performance. While Mercedes might not be able to beat Red Bull to a championship in 2024, they sure can make things hard for the Milton Keynes base by getting the concept right. 

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