Mercedes AMG Petronas W14

[Nitrodaze]

The profile from the side looks very much like the infamous W13.


Courtesy Car Magazine

From this angle, you can see the engine cover is wider and less floor is exposed compared to the W13. I would guess that they have changed the floor. The endplates of the front wing seem to have been tweaked. Just under the endplates are three little winglets which are completely detached from the endplate. It clearly looks like an evolution from last year's car. It is interesting that Toto was saying that the W13 was overweight. So we can guess that they have found a few tenths there. But is that enough? They sorted the porpoising issue last year, hence, l expect they focused on other areas under the skin.

The tip of the monocoque just ahead of the front wing has a pair of little nostrils. You would almost miss them if you are not looking intently.

[airshifter]

I think being mostly black now hides many of the changes made. The upper bathtub is fairly pronounced, has a couple vents per side in the inside rail, and runs all the ay to the back of the car. The sidepods have changed shape quite a bit as well. Taller, not quite as wide at the widest point, but they run much farther back on the car. Much less visible floor, especially at the rear of the car.

Merc is one of a couple of teams that has worked a great deal on the front wing to comply with the newer regs, but still induce outwash. Hard to say how much difference it will make, but it seems in line with their concept of the narrower sidepods.

Toto has said to expect changes to hit the track in testing, so hard to say which design ideas are legit and long term, and if any might just be distractions to keep everyone guessing.

[Nitrodaze]

Usually, they make several cycles of changes to the design. Hence it is expected that the first cycle shall be in testing and from testing the next cycle shall most likely be at the first race as they learn new things about the new design. Taking a closer look at Ferrari, they are looking quite menacing. Of course, we have not seen Redbull yet. I am expecting Redbull to evolve further and maintain the status of being the car to beat. It would be interesting to see how Redbull has coped with the changes in the regulation which they heavily criticised. And how they are affected by the reduced wind tunnel time imposed on them. I really wonder if wind tunnel time has any effect on capable teams like Redbull given the engineering software that they bring to bear on their design efforts.

It is interesting to see the air intake vents on the Mercedes pods have been dropped lower it seems. Almost like it is hoovering air from under the front suspensions. The air intake design for the engine is revolutionary. Unlike any other teams. I hope the car doesn't suffer heating problems at slow speeds, like when driving behind safety cars etc.

[Mia 01]

My judgement will come after the upcoming test. I don´t understand all the technical development.

[airshifter]

My judgement will come after the upcoming test. I don´t understand all the technical development.

I think sometimes that is a good thing. People that think they understand all the functions and how all the little aero changes will work spend weeks having arguments about how it will make the cars faster or slower, most often quickly proven wrong when they hit the track and the sometimes simple looking cars are just as fast.

From my basic understanding the reason Merc and to some extent Williams are considered the odd man out is that they are using very narrow sidepods. Most teams are using sidepods much larger to control the flow of air to the rear tires, which are one of the least aerodynamic surfaces on the car.

[Nitrodaze]

I think sometimes that is a good thing. People that think they understand all the functions and how all the little aero changes will work spend weeks having arguments about how it will make the cars faster or slower, most often quickly proven wrong when they hit the track and the sometimes simple looking cars are just as fast.

From my basic understanding the reason Merc and to some extent Williams are considered the odd man out is that they are using very narrow sidepods. Most teams are using sidepods much larger to control the flow of air to the rear tires, which are one of the least aerodynamic surfaces on the car.

I doubt that is the case. The side pods are bigger than those on the W13. They seem to have instability at the front of the car. The front suspension may be the culprit. Even at the Silverstone shakedown, the car already showed signs of instability at the corners. Whatever the case, the gamble to evolve the W13 is not looking promising for Mercedes. They are clearly behind and losing valuable testing track time. They may start the season like they did last season; deep in the midfield where the cars have got better and may be troublesome for them. Disappointing!

[Nitrodaze]

According to seven times world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes is one second and a half off the pace of the Redbull. That is much further back than they were to RedBull last season. It would take some kind of miracle for Mercedes and any of its drivers to win any of the titles this season it would appear. My money is on Alonso to win the 2023 driver's title this season. Alonso versus Verstappen would be something to behold don't you think?

But wait a minute!

Let us review the situation for a minute. With all the data gathered from what was a terrible season for them, Mercedes turns up with a relatively slower car than the horrid W13. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? If the situation is really this, any conspiracy theorist would draw one of two conclusions and one of them is very likely to be right. And they as follows:-

1. The new Mercedes design office lacks objectivity. They have stubbornly put forward the dud of last season into this 2023 season refusing to accept that the W13 was fundamentally flawed.

2. The other, is that the last three seasons, including this one, are choreographed to produce a desired outcome and Mercedes is in on it. They have won too many times, it is someone else's turn.

By the way, this is speculation. But then again, we know if Mercedes has really tried to push forward, they would at least be within half a second off the pace of Redbull. As this is where everyone was quietly thinking they would most likely start the season. But a second and a half off the pace is quite unbelievable. There is a whiff of something stinky going on.

[airshifter]

I personally don't buy any of the conspiracy theories. Merc got barely beat in '21, then got it wrong in '22. They aren't going to give up titles for the show, and it would be too hard to "hide the money" at that level for any fixing to be going on. And if you see the Netflix clip of Toto trying to push the safety factor last year when they had it all wrong, you can see how desperate he was to claw back any advantage and get back in the hunt.


Though Q3, not looking as doom and gloom as some think. I don't know that I buy Lewis's claim of 1.5 seconds slower, but I expect RB and a few others might uncork true performance in qually and then we will finally see.

[Nitrodaze]

I personally don't buy any of the conspiracy theories. Merc got barely beat in '21, then got it wrong in '22. They aren't going to give up titles for the show, and it would be too hard to "hide the money" at that level for any fixing to be going on. And if you see the Netflix clip of Toto trying to push the safety factor last year when they had it all wrong, you can see how desperate he was to claw back any advantage and get back in the hunt.


Though Q3, not looking as doom and gloom as some think. I don't know that I buy Lewis's claim of 1.5 seconds slower, but I expect RB and a few others might uncork true performance in qually and then we will finally see.

I agree with that. Russell finished 0.635 from Verstappen. Which is more respectable. But still woeful by their standards. The bottom line is they made changes to produce what they call the W14, but it has not made any relative step forward from where they were last season. One could argue that this is evidence of brain drain from the Mercedes design office. Whoever penned this car should be shown the door in my opinion.

The Aston has real pace it seems but does it have race pace?

[Zico]

According to seven times world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes is one second and a half off the pace of the Redbull... There is a whiff of something stinky going on.

The time sheets are more truthful. Yeah, 6 tenths off Red Bull isn't exactly great news but at least they are still up there.