Mercedes is set to see a significant increase in horsepower for the 2023 Formula 1 season, according to a report.
The Brackley-based squad will unveil the W14 challenger on Wednesday, February 15, as it looks to bounce back from a troubled 2022 campaign.
Formu1a.uno reports that Mercedes will add “10 horsepower” to its arsenal for the upcoming campaign as it will also retain the zero sidepod concept that turned heads when it was unveiled last year.
However, the concept didn’t translate to on-track performance, with Mercedes spending much of the year attempting to understand its struggles.
The fact that it is retaining the aerodynamic design comes as no surprise, with Toto Wolff confirming late last year that it would do so.
“I go into the wind tunnel and say ‘that thing looks like this year’s car’,” he said. “But they [Mercedes engineers] say to me that it’s very different.
“It’s about the airflow, it’s about the weight distribution, it’s about the aero map. Our car fundamentally changed mid-year.
“Fundamentally we changed the concept but we couldn’t see anything [different] on the bodywork. I think the narrow concept is in a way like a red herring. It’s different but it looks the same.”
More intriguing, however, is the reported boost in power unit performance amid an engine freeze.
Development of the engines was halted last year, but manufacturers are still permitted to introduce changes focused on reliability.
The report says that Mercedes has improved its reliability, with “rumours coming out of Brackley are that the German engine will gain double-digit value”.
During the winter break, reports emerged that Ferrari was set to increase its power output by up to 30 horsepower for the start of the 2023 season.
However, such suggestions were squashed by team boss Frederic Vasseur, who labelled them as a “joke”.
Both Mercedes and Ferrari enter the 2023 campaign attempting to de-throne Red Bull, who dominated the previous year to secure the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships with several rounds to spare.
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