How Mercedes' new F1 upgrades fared - and what's next for the revitalised W14

The eagerly anticipated upgrades that Mercedes had intended to debut at Imola made a belated appearance at Monaco after the Italian round's cancellation.

Jake Boxall-Legge May 31, 2023, 11:33 AM

Mercedes' persistence in continuing with its egregiously named "zero-pod" sidepods was admirable. Simulations and wind tunnel data suggested that the distinctly shrink-wrapped bodywork could offer gallons of performance, if it could simply be unshackled by the engineers. Unfortunately for the Mercedes designers, this was like trying to nail a jelly to the wall.

Last year's W13 chassis, the first attempt at a car with those sidepods, was plagued by issues that caused the drivers great discomfort in its willingness to bounce like a space hopper along the straights, and great uncertainty on the brakes. A season's worth of continued development transformed the car from a troubled teen into a race winner, but it could be argued that George Russell's visit to the top step in Brazil offered false hope.

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Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.