Mercedes give 'encouraging' update over 2024 F1 car

Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has hinted at an “encouraging” update on car the team will field next year.

Since the introduction of new regulations last year, Mercedes has consisntely competed off the front-running pace.

It has won just a single Grand Prix since the start of last season with Red Bull largely dominating the field.

Development of the current car has continued into the latter stages of the season despite large focused being place on its challenger for next year.

This included its final major upgrade of the season in the the United States, which included a new floor.

Speaking after the recent Mexico City Grand Prix, Shovlin stated that seeing Mercedes' pace at recent races is a strong indication over the strenghth of the fresh parts.

“If we look at the performance in Austin and Mexico, being able to race cars like McLaren and Ferrari effectively, we'd say that the track data is certainly suggesting that we've made a forward step,” said Shovlin.

“Bear in mind that all of the top teams have been bringing upgrades to their cars over the last few races, it is crucial that you can match them on development, even better to be able to continue to fight them on track.”

Mercedes encouraged by floor performance

Shovlin stated that Mercedes' new floor in the United States will carry over to next year and has been left encouraged by its performance so far.

“The other thing is we collect a lot of data off the car,” he said. “Pressures off the floor, pressures off the wings, loads on the car and all that data is correlating really well with what we're seeing in the wind tunnel.

“That's crucial for next year because this floor is actually a step in the development direction that we want to take for 2024.

“So very encouraging signs but a lot of work ahead of us.”