basti313 wrote: ↑04 Apr 2023, 11:04
torpor wrote: ↑03 Apr 2023, 20:31
I'm afraid Mercedes is in a similar difficult situation linke after '22 season.
They think about radical changes on the car after a very competitive and successful race.
What do you think Melbourne performance affects the plans Toto announced agter Saidi Arabia GP?
I think it is clear, but usually in this thread Toto is a godlike figure:
- You do not talk about your development, especially not in a way like this, so not about real things that happen.
If anyone knows what Mercedes is doing at the Factory it will be Toto Wolff, the buck stops with him. Yes he engages in PR spin, but he's not going to say precisely what Mercedes are focusing on to deflect attention from the other teams.
- What Toto sais and what really happens is always two different things. This is not different from most team managers...
Erm Toto owns 33% of the Mercedes team, he's not exactly like other F1 team bosses.
- They have a plan from beginning of the season and they follow it. Maybe they adjust a bit to make the rear stronger, but a concept change is nonsense.
It's clear the W14 is not what they expected performance wise and have had to change plans rapidly. The big changes probably won't appear until later in the season. They can and will change the concept if the current one is not going to get them on par with Red Bull. Even if the change doesn't bear fruit until 2024.
- They simply can not change the rads packing mid-season, there is no resources for this. They would need to make changes to the tub. So any sidepod change is limited to a bit of changing the air flow, that anyways any team is doing all the time.
If they need to rejig the cooling systems they'll find a way to do it, likely at the expense of other developments. What they won't do is redesign the chassis from the ground up for this season, that'll be in the pipeline for 2024.
As for Melbourne? They got the W14 into a good operating window, that might not be easy replicate at other circuits.