Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff has warned fans that although they believe they are much more competitive for 2023, the gap to Red Bull may be similar to 2022.
The team struggled with many issues on the 2022 W13 cars, starting off with severe porpoising problems. Once they were able to get the porpoising under control, it became clear they had been hiding a wealth of other problems with the car. However, the team were able to make some significant developments towards the end of the year which saw them have a 1-2 finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix, which was George Russell’s first F1 win.
Wolff has said recently that the team are confident from the developments made in 2022 that they will be in a better position for 2023. However, in a recent interview, as quoted by Motorsport.com, Wolff explained:
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“We have no doubt, when you’re starting behind by half a second, that it’s going to be difficult to catch up to such great organizations like Red Bull, or Ferrari.
“Having said that, we are super determined in doing just that. But we need to set our expectations at a realistic level.”
We already know that the highly anticipated W14 will likely look the same as the W13 but will be “completely different underneath”. So, it is understood that the 2023 car will adopt the same zero sidepod design. Wolff continued:
“If we perform in the way we hope, then we’d like to be part of the racing at the very front. I think that would be a starting point.
“But we don’t take that for granted. It could well be that the gaps are like they were at the end of last season.
“I think there is so much potential still that within our car, within the concept, the way we drive the car, etc, that maybe our development slope can be steeper in the months to come.”
