Toto Wolff and Mercedes are set to bring in new updates for the W14 in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. Although Mercedes fans are excited about these upgrades, Toto Wolff has asked fans not to have high hopes.
When the Mercedes W14 made its race weekend debut in Bahrain, the team was hoping to give Red Bull a challenge for victory but was left disappointed with its performance. More than that, they were shocked by how far off Red Bull was in terms of race pace. They were so disappointed that they issued a letter to their fans apologizing for letting them down and promising to do their best to get back to back fighting for a Championship.
The 2023 season is Lewis Hamilton’s 17th season in Formula 1. He has driven for McLaren and Mercedes during this time. His experience gives him an edge over other drivers on the grid. He knows how a car should behave and how a car should not behave.
Lewis Hamilton spoke to the BBC after the Bahrain GP about his Mercedes F1 team not listening to feedback he gave them regarding the W14 car 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZdIFMksZal
— Autosport (@autosport) March 9, 2023
After the Bahrain Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton showed his frustration toward Mercedes stating that they were not listening to him. Hamilton has given his inputs to the team after the 2022 season, but they were apparently not considered during the development of the W14. Hamilton now waits for the upgrades to arrive for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix showed some promise for Mercedes as they were able to achieve their first podium of the season with Lewis Hamilton. Azerbaijan and Miami also showed some decent race pace. Nowhere near compared to Red Bull anyway.
Toto Wolff – “We have to rein in our expectations”
After the opening Grand Prix, Toto Wolff stated that there would be some major changes to the car over the next few weekends. The first of these major changes will arrive at Imola. Wolff has also stated that the team will be trying out new concepts in terms of design.
Although there were a lot of talks happening within the paddock about these upgrades, Toto Wolff is not very optimistic about it. Wolff stated:
“The upgrade package is a big operation. In the virtual world, it promises a good step in terms of lap time. But we have to rein in our expectations”
“We fear that there is something in our car that we don’t understand. That’s why our goal with the upgrade is to eliminate certain variables. We finally want to get a stable platform that we can then develop further”
Toto Wolff on the upgrades for Imola:
“I have to put the brakes on expectations. There’s so much talk about this update, but it’s not going to be like we’re suddenly running circles around Red Bull with it.”
“If we were free there, we’d probably bring twice as many updates,”… pic.twitter.com/iKOG7e9K60
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) May 5, 2023
Toto Wolff is trying to manage expectations from the fans. It’s not like these upgrades will take Mercedes to challenge Red Bull for the Championship. The upgrades are the initial steps toward developing a better car.
Over the next few races, Mercedes will be making major changes to the car, maybe even changing the slim sidepod concept, in a desperate attempt to try and close the gap to Red Bull and help Hamilton win another Championship.