Motorsport Week
  • Formula 1
    • 2025 Formula 1 Calendar
    • 2025 Formula 1 Standings
  • Formula E
    • 2025 Formula E Calendar
    • 2025 Formula E Standings
  • IndyCar
    • 2025 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2025 IndyCar Standings
  • WRC
    • 2025 WRC Standings
    • 2025 WRC Calendar
  • MotoGP
    • 2025 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2025 MotoGP Standings
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
  • WEC
    • 2025 WEC Calendar
  • IMSA
    • 2025 IMSA Calendar
  • World SBK
  • More
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • F1 Academy
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
  • Formula 1
    • 2025 Formula 1 Calendar
    • 2025 Formula 1 Standings
  • Formula E
    • 2025 Formula E Calendar
    • 2025 Formula E Standings
  • IndyCar
    • 2025 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2025 IndyCar Standings
  • WRC
    • 2025 WRC Standings
    • 2025 WRC Calendar
  • MotoGP
    • 2025 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2025 MotoGP Standings
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
  • WEC
    • 2025 WEC Calendar
  • IMSA
    • 2025 IMSA Calendar
  • World SBK
  • More
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • F1 Academy
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
Motorsport Week
Home Single Seater Formula 1

Vowles: Mercedes will be ‘mighty’ at certain tracks in 2023

by Taylor Powling
2 years ago
A A
Vowles: Mercedes will be ‘mighty’ at certain tracks in 2023

Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W14. 18.03.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 2, Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Qualifying Day.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Mercedes will be “mighty” at some tracks this season, according to its former chief strategist and current Williams boss James Vowles.

After only claiming a solitary victory throughout last season, the German manufacturer’s ambitions of immediately returning to championship contention have been dashed after an underwhelming start to 2023.

Despite an improved showing in Saudi Arabia to finish fourth and fifth, the two Mercedes’ still ended up over half a second behind the race-winning Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

But having been well-versed in the construction process of its W14 car before his move away, Vowles is convinced that Mercedes will be much more competitive at certain venues.  

“There’ll be tracks like Silverstone and Barcelona where Mercedes will be mighty of a result of what I know from their package,” he claimed.

While Mercedes struggled significantly early last year, the Silver Arrows tended to perform markedly better at high-speed circuits as it got to grips with its troublesome car.

Tracks such as Barcelona, Paul Ricard and Silverstone offered promise that it had developed a package that had the potential to win races before the Brazil GP at Interlagos in November finally delivered the breakthrough victory it had craved.

RelatedPosts

Max Verstappen has completed an impressive performance in a GT endurance race at the Nurburgring

Max Verstappen delivers mighty performance in Nurburgring endurance race

10 hours ago
Red Bull has once again suffered with its second seat alongside Max Verstappen in F1 this year

Nico Rosberg highlights ‘crazy’ situation at Red Bull

11 hours ago

The 1-2 finish it secured at the penultimate round was also a reflection of Mercedes’ impressive development rate to eclipse Ferrari in emerging as Red Bull’s nearest contender over the course of the second half of the season.

Although Red Bull has dominated the opening two rounds of the current season, Vowles is backing the competition to reduce the reigning champion’s advantage throughout the year.

The ex-Mercedes man is confident that the reduced wind tunnel time Red Bull is entitled to and the regulations remaining stable for 2024 will enable convergence to occur.

“There’s two things – do I think Red Bull will dominate through the season? No, I doubt it,” he said.

“However, on balance across the season, do I think they’re the fastest? Yes. But they still have a wind tunnel deficit, it’s not as big as I think it necessarily should be to balance things out, but it’s still there.

“It still will mean across the season that you’ll see people moving towards them. With the rules carrying over to next year, you have to keep developing this car. Things will close up.”

Prior to his departure to take over the reins at Williams, Vowles had been a long-serving member of the Brackley-based squad in its various guises, overseeing nine Constructors’ F1 titles.

That stint included being an important figure during Mercedes’ unprecedented run of success during the V6 turbo-hybrid engine era that saw the German marque secure a record-breaking eight consecutive Championships.

Now attempting to haul an underachieving Williams outfit up the grid in the role of team principal, Vowles admits he perhaps wasn’t fully aware at the time of the extreme effort that went into maintaining Mercedes’ prolonged stay at the top of the sport.

“Perhaps what wasn’t realised, when you’re internal to the team, it’s full swing to achieve what you’re doing,” Vowles highlighted.

“I already said in the winter you could make just one or two key decisions, and you completely screw up the following year.

“And what happens normally, if you look at dominance across eras, it’s across regulation changes and the reason why you can’t invest in it properly is because instead of having a few decisions to make, you have many decisions and you screw them up. It’s as simple as that.

“The next bit is when you’re fast, you don’t want to change. And if you get caught into that, I promise you, your rivals will be changing all the time. And what they did yesterday is not good enough tomorrow.

“And as a result of that, you can stand still and be caught up very quickly. It is very difficult to stay at that level for as long as Mercedes appeared, and if Red Bull keep going, it’ll be an incredible achievement, which is why I think people will catch them up.”

Tags: F1MercedesVowles
Share200Tweet125Share

Related Posts

Max Verstappen has completed an impressive performance in a GT endurance race at the Nurburgring
Formula 1

Max Verstappen delivers mighty performance in Nurburgring endurance race

10 hours ago
Red Bull has once again suffered with its second seat alongside Max Verstappen in F1 this year
Formula 1

Nico Rosberg highlights ‘crazy’ situation at Red Bull

11 hours ago
Carlos Sainz has had his two penalty points incurred at the Dutch GP removed
Formula 1

Carlos Sainz penalty points removed after FIA confirms review of F1 Dutch GP incident

12 hours ago
Load More

Discussion about this post

Upcoming Races

#EventDate
17Azerbaijan GP19-21 September
18Singapore GP03-05 October
19United States GP17-19 October
20Mexico City GP24-26 October
21São Paulo GP07-09 November

Click here for the full 2025 F1 calendar

Drivers’  Standings

#DriverPts
Oscar Piastri324
Lando Norris293
Max Verstappen230
George Russell194
Charles Leclerc163
Lewis Hamilton117
Alexander Albon70
Andrea Kimi Antonelli66
Isack Hadjar38
Nico Hulkenberg37

Click here for full Drivers’ Standings

Latest Articles

Max Verstappen has completed an impressive performance in a GT endurance race at the Nurburgring
Formula 1

Max Verstappen delivers mighty performance in Nurburgring endurance race

September 13, 2025
Red Bull has once again suffered with its second seat alongside Max Verstappen in F1 this year
Formula 1

Nico Rosberg highlights ‘crazy’ situation at Red Bull

September 13, 2025
Carlos Sainz has had his two penalty points incurred at the Dutch GP removed
Formula 1

Carlos Sainz penalty points removed after FIA confirms review of F1 Dutch GP incident

September 13, 2025

Follow Motorsport Week

Join our daily motorsport newsletter

* indicates required

Motorsport Week

© 2024 Motorsport Media Services Ltd

Other Links

  • About & Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Motorsport Monday

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Home
  • Formula 1
    • Latest News
    • 2025 F1 Calendar
    • 2025 F1 Championship Standings
  • Formula E
    • Latest News
    • 2025 FE Calendar
    • 2025 FE Championship Standings
  • MotoGP
    • Latest News
    • 2025 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2025 MotoGP Standings
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
  • WRC
    • Latest News
    • 2025 WRC Calendar
    • 2025 WRC Standings
  • IndyCar
    • Latest News
    • 2025 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2025 IndyCar Standings
  • WEC
    • Latest News
    • 2025 WEC Calendar
  • Live Updates
  • Other
    • IMSA
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • F1 Academy
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
  • Galleries
  • About/Contact
  • Privacy Policy

© 2024 Motorsport Media Services Ltd