© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Toto Wolff says that for 2024, Mercedes will have “a different chassis, different aerodynamics, different characteristics, different suspension”, and “everything that we can change, we change”.
While reviewing the 2023 Formula 1 season, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff once again reiterated, that the team’s 2024 car will be completely different from its predecessor.
“In terms of the season off-track, the sport is doing extremely well commercially,” the Austrian said.
“From a Team Principal’s role, the sporting side has been tough, because last year, for a long-time, we didn’t understand why our car was so bad.
“But this year, albeit it was not so much fishing in the dark, but we couldn’t capitalise in terms of race results.
“I think particularly in Austin, we could have had a win, but we made mistakes, we had an off weekend in Brazil, where we can absolutely reconstruct what happened, and it is not what would happen to a top team.
“We also had the quickest car in Singapore, but the results don’t show it. But it was a year of let’s say moving forward with the car and understanding for next year.
“The stopwatch never lies, and we will see next year in Bahrain. [We will have] a different chassis, different aerodynamics, different characteristics, different suspension and everything that we can change, we [are going to] change.
If you like SilverArrows.Net, consider supporting us by buying us a coffee!
“So far, the results in the virtual world are positive, but we need to be careful in terms of managing our expectations. We need such a step in order to catch up to fight for a championship.
“But obviously if you make a radical step, that means lots of new knowledge.”
Toto also said the team must be careful when attempting to generate big jumps in performance.
“Aston Martin said that between the autumn car of 2022 and the start of 2023, [they found] two-and-a-half seconds.
“They were pretty much last, and they were the second-quickest team at the beginning of the season. McLaren expected an upgrade of two-tenths and they got a second.
“The aero works completely differently, you have a ground effects car, which are aerodynamically more fragile, and on top of that, you put a tyre that you need to have exactly in the right window for it to perform.
“We’re talking a few degrees up and down, and if you have a car that is predictable, that is stable, a good solid platform, you’re struggling less in terms of sliding and degradation.
“It’s a vicious circle,” Wolff concluded.
