Mercedes says it has adopted an evolutionary approach with its W14, revealed on Wednesday, as it strives to “carry forward the goodness” of its 2022 package.
Mercedes finished third in last year’s Constructors’ Championship, scoring a solitary win in São Paulo, as its run of titles concluded after eight seasons.
Mercedes, which has returned to a black and carbon livery to produce a lighter chassis, has retained the narrow sidepods that defined the W13, and has made revisions to the front suspension geometry and cooling system.
“From the outside, after eight years of winning back-to-back World Championships and then having a poor year, many might expect that we would be tearing up the drawings and starting again but that’s not the case,” said Mercedes Technical Director Mike Elliott.
“We believe there was a lot of goodness in the W13, along with some things that we didn’t like.
“For the W14, it’s about taking that goodness and carrying it forward, and correcting the issues that we had in the W13.”
Elliott explained that “with this generation of cars, the performance is all in the detail. A lot of that detail is in the floor, so it is not very visible to the fans.
“When you look at the W14, you will see the DNA of the W13 but also a lot of evolution and detail improvement. That may surprise some people but in all the testing we have done, we have seen no reason to move away from our concept.
“The problems that we faced last year, particularly with the bouncing, were not a result of the geometry of the car.
“Overall, I think you will see the DNA of the W13 but also a lot of evolution and detail improvement.
“If we were to explain all the details that we have changed and why we have changed them, it would show the huge amount of work that has gone into this car.”
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