Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes car set for more ‘radical’ changes as Toto Wolff and Co look to catch up F1 rivals Red Bull
LEWIS HAMILTON’S car is set for more “radical” changes as Mercedes look to catch up to rivals Red Bull.
The Silver Arrows have begun the 2023 season poorly and failed to podium in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Red Bull have continued their dominance from last season with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez finishing as the top two in both races so far.
Mercedes have had similar issues with their W14 car that they had with last year’s vehicle.
Chief Toto Wolff is aware something drastic must be done and indicated that could be coming when asked if he was planning a full chassis change for 2024.
He replied: “So when you speak about the chassis, the question is, do you speak about the monocoque and basically the tub or are we speaking about everything else around?
“I think the monocoque is one thing, and that’s obviously there are weight implications, COG implications, where does the driver sit, more forward or more rearwards.
“But I think the biggest gains that we need to find is how can we extract more downforce all around the track.
“If we see that is not enough to actually challenge at the front, then there might be more radical decisions that need to be taken.”
Reports have suggested that Mercedes could ditch their “zeropod” side pods in favour of a design more similar to that of Red Bull.
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Wolff has also revealed that it could be a while before Hamilton is able to realistically compete with Red Bull again, hinting at last season’s improved second half of the year once issues were fixed.
The seven-time F1 champion has claimed that Verstappen’s car is the fastest he has ever seen.
The next Grand Prix takes place in Australia this Sunday.