Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had admitted that the team are unable to bring a new Formula 1 chassis in the 2023 season due to the cost cap. The eight-time champions finally unveiled their vast new upgrade package to the W14 in Monaco, with the car ditching the zero sidepod concept for a more 'Red Bull' style. While Lewis Hamilton and George Russell brought the car home in fourth and fifth, Wolff admitted the upgrade was just the beginning of the process to reel Red Bull in as opposed to instantly getting them back into the mix. However, the car was also noted to be a compromise as the original W14 chassis was designed around the zero sidepods, meaning the new parts have been crowbarred onto the car. Such a big upgrade would normally necessitate a chassis change and getting it re-homologated by the FIA, however, Wolff says this is simply not possible.
Chassis change not possible
"If we were not in cost cap land, we would have introduced another chassis, which we can't," Wolff told media, including RacingNews365.com . "What we did is a fundamental shift in the design direction, the way we generate grip mechanically and aerodynamically. "We are very immature in our understanding of the current car, and therefore we expect upgrades to come regularly within the the financial parameters that exist - but everybody should be under the same constraints. "Barcelona is not enough [to know where we need to improve], as we need to collect data - that's why we put it [on the car] in Monaco to collect further analysis. "We will do that in Barcelona, which is the next race, Montreal is a little bit of an outlier again and over the next races, hopefully we can really increase the performance of the car - but it's not going to suddenly be right there."
Is a win possible?
When asked if Mercedes could keep their streak of winning at least one race every year since 2012 going this term, Wolff was cautiously optimistic that this would be so. "We haven't changed the nastiness of the rear of the car, we need to dial that out, which we will, but it is a long road," he said. "Are we able to win a race this year? I would very much hope that we can get ourselves back to the front and fight - but there's more variables today with the other teams. "We just need to aim to win and push into the race for the championship."
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