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Mercedes’ Technical Director James Allison believes the team is heading in the right direction for 2024, but the challenge is: “Can we actually walk that path fast enough to overhaul a pretty dominant Red Bull?”
During his appearance on the F1 Nation podcast, Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director James Allison said he believes the team is heading in the right direction with their car for 2024.
“We are pretty hopeful we have got a good handle on what has been ailing us,” Allison said.
“Therefore, we are pretty confident that we know which direction to head in for next season.
“But that leads to an open question – let’s say we are dead right, and we know exactly where we are heading.
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“Can we actually walk that path fast enough to overhaul a pretty dominant Red Bull and pop our noses in front? That’s our challenge, more so than being confident about where we are heading.
“I think we are heading in the right place but the challenge, and that’s what makes this part of the year so breathlessly brilliant, is: Can we not just walk along that path but fair sprint it for the next several months.”
Allison believes that if Mercedes’ 2024 car is “well-born”, the team should not have a lot of problems making it very competitive.
“I feel like all of us have got a pretty clear-sighted view of what we want to do with the car.
“This championship, while we haven’t made the really impressive progress that say McLaren have, we have nevertheless been charting a path through the season that gives us a very clear idea of what we need to put right.
“That makes next year very exciting to look forward to — and this period of the year extremely enjoyable.
“Over the years, most of the good cars that I’ve been lucky enough to be around when they’ve happened, the driver gets in it and doesn’t exactly say ‘spend your bonus’, but they more or less do.
“And unlocking potential is not really something that takes very long if the car is well-born.
“That will be the aim with this one.”
