Great Confidence
In a Q&A on the team’s own website, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff shared some insights.
The development of the W14 is progressing in leaps and bounds, but overall, they are already very satisfied with the initial findings after the races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Australia.
Wolff says: “Regarding the development of the car, it’s encouraging to see that we understand the car much better after three races. We have defined a clear direction we need to go in, and I believe we are on the right track. We need to solidify our understanding and hopefully, we can take another step in the next races.”
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Hands up, it’s the weekend!
That was the Formula 1 live ticker week!
Thank you for your attention and I wish you all a sunny and beautiful weekend. Take care and if there’s motorsport for you, go for it!
Kevin Scheuren quietly says goodbye, and on Monday, my colleague Ruben Zimmermann will take over for you. 🙂
Restart Frustration
Haas team principal Günther Steiner wants clarification!
In his eyes, Nico Hülkenberg was robbed of his first podium finish because the interpretation of the rules regarding how far back a sequence is counted in the event of a red flag is not clearly regulated enough. What happened?
During the second standing restart, there was a collision between Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso. Hülkenberg had a sensational restart, was in fourth place at the time of the stoppage. Due to the five-second penalty against Sainz, he would have moved up to third place and thus the podium. No such luck!
What Günther Steiner wishes for in the future to prevent this chaos from happening again, you can read in the report by my colleague Ruben Zimmermann!
What do the data say?
Can’t get enough of our expert Kevin Hermann’s data analyses?
Then I recommend his updated article with a detailed data analysis after three races of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
If you want to get some spoken data insights with a view to the next weekend in Azerbaijan, then you can directly watch the data video. It’s worth it!
The true facts revealed! Data analysis for races in Baku
Pictures of a Legend
I’m feeling a bit nostalgic right now. You too?
Then let’s just look at some photos from Ayrton Senna’s career together, agreed?
Ayrton Senna – Moments of a Career
A Legend Was Born!
Today’s #OnThisDay content gives me goosebumps.
On 21.04.1985, Ayrton Senna won his first Formula 1 Grand Prix. In the pouring rain of Estoril, the Brazilian in a Lotus prevailed against Michele Alboreto (Ferrari) and Patrick Tambay (Renault).
It was a perfect weekend for Senna. The day before, he secured his first pole position. He left Alain Prost a full 0.4 seconds behind.
On Sunday, it poured buckets, but Senna was able to show his full class and moved in Portugal as if on a dry track. It was an impressive demonstration of his extraordinary skill. Of the only 67 laps driven due to the weather conditions, Senna spent every single one in the lead.
Today, 38 years ago, can truly be called the birth of a legend.
Senna always!
Your Opinion
A few hours ago, I asked for your opinion on whether Mercedes can catch Red Bull again this season. Martin wrote to me via the contact form and expressed a very clear opinion:
“Mercedes will never be able to catch Red Bull. Mercedes lacks a genius like Ross Brawn, who could teach Adrian Newey to fear. With every rule change, Ross Brawn always had a better vision for a car than Adrian Newey. Now Ross is no longer there, so Red Bull has no one to fear.
Toto always claims that the same people are there for past success. These people (Ross Brawn, Aldo Costa, etc.), who laid the foundation for the new vision of a car, are no longer there. It is not the process that is most important, but the vision of a car. If the process were the most important, then Toto would not say that the car can be thrown in the trash. So if the vision of the car is trash, the process cannot make it a miracle car.”
Indeed, Mercedes has to show whether the new vision brings back success, if it even exists.
Shoey at the Ring?
Woah, one thing I had almost completely forgotten. Daniel Ricciardo was on the podium in 2020 during the short Formula 1 intermezzo and forgot his Shoey!
Maybe he’ll do it on September 9th, when he steams over the Nordschleife with a Red Bull!
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Read more FT2 Hungary: Ferrari leaves the competition in the dust
The Weather in Miami
Stefan wrote to us via the contact form and asked about the current situation in Miami, the status of storms and floods, and whether the Grand Prix on May 7th is in danger.
First of all, thank you for your inquiry, Stefan, and if we look at the weather forecast for the next few days, we still see a lot of storms and heavy rainfall.
We have an editor, Mario Fritzsche, directly on site. He told me that, in contrast to the hurricane season which starts later in the year, it’s still quite manageable. Yes, there are floods and yes, there are also some infrastructural problems, but Miami can handle that. Normally, the water is pumped out quickly.
As of now, we assume that the Formula 1 event at the beginning of May will not be canceled! However, we will keep you updated here.
Musical Chairs at Mercedes
This morning in the Formula 1 live ticker was dominated by Mercedes and how they want to get back to the top.
Just today, there’s also an important announcement from the Brackley team. James Allison and Mike Elliott are immediately swapping positions within the team. Allison will become the team’s Technical Director, while Elliott will henceforth be the overall Technical Officer. The idea for the swap came from Elliott.
Toto Wolff told colleagues from the global edition of motorsport.com: “Mike came to the conclusion that his approach and skills are best utilized by developing the team further and creating structures that can be sustainably successful for years.”
More on this topic can be found in the article by my colleague Stefan Ehlen.
Kvyat in a Ferrari?!
Speaking of Ferrari!
It’s always very exciting what former Formula 1 drivers talk about after their careers or stints in Formula 1. The latest example is Daniil Kvyat. In the “Track Limits” podcast, he spoke extensively about his difficult year in 2016.
The season at Red Bull started promisingly and already ended in Barcelona. He finished third in China, but then came the legendary “torpedo attack” against Sebastian Vettel in Russia. He finished the 2016 season, but everything could have turned out very differently.
How, you can read in the article by my colleague Ruben Zimmermann!
Sainz at Ferrari facing exit?
The Catalan newspaper “El Nacional” often reports on Carlos Sainz.
The Spaniard, born in Madrid, is naturally always a good topic for a Spanish/Catalan medium due to Ferrari’s worst season start since 2009.
The title of their latest story: “Ferrari is slowly fed up with Carlos Sainz”. This report primarily focuses on Ferrari’s dissatisfaction with Sainz, who too rarely manages to achieve decisive successes on track. They even go a step further: “The Spanish driver is not showing the expected performance in the team, and they are tired of the Spaniard’s excuses.” This refers to the accident with Fernando Alonso, which earned Sainz a five-second penalty that cost him fourth place.
That certainly stings. Considering that the Spaniard currently has the lion’s share of Ferrari’s meager 26 points with 20 points, one wonders where this comes from. In recent days, Roger Benoit, one of the most experienced journalists in the Formula 1 circus, raised the theory that Sainz could switch to Audi in 2026. Precisely to the group for which his father Carlos Sainz Sr. competes in the Dakar Rally.
The Spanish “El Nacional” concludes its report with the sentence “Sainz’s future with the Italian team is therefore at stake” and also refers to the simmering dispute within the driver team. According to their information, Charles Leclerc is said to be unhappy with Sainz. The fact is, Sainz’s contract runs until the end of 2024. An early departure could be costly for Ferrari.
What does the contractual future look like for the other Formula 1 drivers, and would there even be a serious option for 2023? My colleague Stefan Ehlen has summarized this for you in our new photo gallery.
Photo Gallery: The Contract Durations of Current Formula 1 Drivers
Anticipation for the Next Races
April was another month for Formula 1 to catch its breath.
From next weekend, however, it’s going to be one after another. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be directly followed by the Miami Grand Prix. Then there’s a one-week break, and the first triple-header of the season follows with Imola, Monaco, and Spain. That means four races in five weeks.
For Mercedes, of course, a good opportunity to immediately build fresh momentum and collect important points. Toto Wolff is hitting the brakes on euphoria but also feels anticipation because the tracks are completely different and the challenges are special:
“Baku is a completely different track. On the straights, the pace is high, and it’s always an entertaining race. The track layout of Miami is also a unique challenge. Returning there is fantastic, with many marketing and partnership activities. And then, of course, Imola, where we will contest the first triple-header race of the season.
We will continue to make improvements to the car in the next races, and that is something we can look forward to. But there is no magic bullet that will transform the car, and one must remain realistic with one’s expectations. Hopefully, we will see a steady improvement.”
Trust in the Process
If any team can be trusted to emerge stronger and more successful from such a precarious phase, it’s probably Mercedes.
Even though the team has lost some, partly high-ranking, engineers to Red Bull and/or Aston Martin in recent years, confidence in their own strengths and abilities has never been lost. The pace is not yet at Red Bull’s level, but they have recognized the problems and want to tackle them.
Toto Wolff says in a Q&A on the Mercedes website:
“We know we need to improve. We need a steeper development curve than Red Bull, and we fundamentally want to fight for race wins. They are now setting the benchmark.
We have trust in the process and in the people. There will be setbacks. But if the development goes upwards, then we want to achieve that.”
How do you see it? Can Mercedes still become a threat to Red Bull this season? Feel free to write me your opinion on Twitter, Instagram, or via our contact form.
Hard Work in the Factories
Work is currently in full swing at both Mercedes factories.
In Brixworth, work is being done on engine stability, which is currently the maximum teams are allowed to do since the component freeze. In Brackley, they are also still trying to find aerodynamic solutions to bring the W14 in the right direction. It is not entirely clear which updates the team will bring to the car and when, or whether this will truly change the entire concept.
In an interview on the Mercedes website, Toto Wolff says:
“The machines continue to run at full speed in Brixworth and Brackley. What you see on the track is just the tip of the iceberg, but the performance of the car and the power unit is generated in these two factories. The mentality is great, the spirit is there, and I see a lot of enthusiasm.
I believe one hundred percent in our work, because we are not just looking at a single race weekend, not even a single season. We are trying to develop our capabilities in such a way that we are successful over several years, being aware of the fact that we will never win every single season, because no sports team has ever achieved that.”
A Look at the Data
Before we talk about Mercedes and the updates that are still to come, a small note on a new video on our YouTube channel!
Kevin Hermann, our data expert, has dedicated himself to the question of whether Sebastian Vettel would win the team duel against Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin. It sounds like a crazy question at first, but if you back it up with data from the technology company “PACETEQ”, we come to a very exciting result.
Maybe something for your morning coffee in between!
Read more Formula 1 Live Ticker: Ferrari fastest on Friday in Hungary
