Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have been unable to challenge at the front of the F1 field since the start of 2022; Hamilton's last Formula 1 victory came in December 2021 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah; watch the Spanish GP live on Sky Sports this weekend
Monday 29 May 2023 23:09, UK
Sky Sports F1's Anthony Davidson and Ted Kravitz analyse the long-awaited upgrades Mercedes debuted in Monaco, ahead of crucial running for the W14 at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.
Mercedes have been on the backfoot since the start of last year and have just one win in the last 29 Formula 1 races.
The team have been very honest about not being where they want to be after plenty of hype and expectation over the winter ahead of this season.
They sit third in the constructors' championship, just one point behind Aston Martin, but it's the gap to Red Bull which has been their big concern.
At 130 points adrift of the Milton Keynes-based team and being well off the pace at most events this year, Lewis Hamilton hopes the raft of upgrades they brought to Monaco, including a new floor, front suspension and sidepods, mark the start of Mercedes going back in the right trajectory.
"It's not the place to ultimately test an upgrade but the car was generally feeling good," Hamilton said after driving with the new parts for the first time.
"A bit of a shame we weren't as close as I'd have hoped but definitely felt the improvements and we've just got to keep chipping away at it and see if we can squeeze any more juice out of the car.
"There is [one area where seeing most improvement] and it's very clear where the lack of performance is for me and so we'll talk about that in the debrief, put our heads together and try and figure out how we can do that within what we have and hopefully this gives us a platform to build on moving forwards."
With the help of Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz and Anthony Davidson, let's take a closer look at the elements Mercedes have changed and why they needed to bring such big developments after five rounds.
"I think they realised in Bahrain, it wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't going to challenge the speed of Red Bull," says Davidson.
"They didn't have the grip they needed from the car. Maybe because of the way the suspension is these days compared to back in say the FRIC [front and read interconnected suspension] days - maybe that concept would have worked.
"But they realised they were going to hit a dead end and it's better to not start a fresh but to change path."
Kravitz adds: "Now that they've got the ground effect [rules], it wasn't the right car for the new ground effect rules.
"It's not really like a Red Bull or an Aston Martin but it does have this little channel here [at the top of the left sidepod], which I like to think it provides a kind of red carpet for the air to go down.
"It tells the air where it wants to go- down the middle of this to tidy it up to the back of the car."
The bigger sidepods are the most noticeable change on the W14, which is more in line with the rest of the field's philosophy.
Mercedes have had one of the slowest cars in a straight line, perhaps due to a combination of a slightly weaker power unit and drag with the 'no sidepods' concept.
"This undercut we call it that around the side there as well trying to channel the air in a more effective way through the back of the car," explains Davidson.
"I think they've got to the point where they realised that they were the only ones [to have this concept]. It was a unique car.
"Williams started in a similar way last year and they quickly changed. Aston Martin changed and now it was kind of inevitable that Mercedes at some point were going to have to change things up as well."
"The data from the wind tunnel says these new sidepods, even though they stick out a bit more, do make the car go faster."
Mercedes have traditionally ran low rake cars since the turbo-hybrid era began in 2014, while rivals Red Bull generally design high rake machines.
F1's current regulations mean more than 50 per cent of the downforce is created by the floor. Hamilton's crash during the final practice session in Monaco enabled everyone to see Mercedes' new floor.
"You can see how complex the floor is around this area here. All these channels and it's all about trying to encourage the air under the car," says Davidson.
"These are ground effects cars these days and they try and run them as low as they can. But I think they have realised they needed a bit of rake in the car as well, hence having to change a lot of the philosophy of this car.
"The front suspension, in trying to achieve a different platform of the rake of the car, this anti-dive suspension, the pickup points are different here now much higher than they were before."
The unique slow speed nature of Monaco mean Mercedes won't fully understand the impact of their upgrades until this weekend's Spanish GP.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has long been used as a testing venue because of the varying corners and Hamilton seems to be particularly positive about one area of the new car.
"Next week Barcelona is the best test circuit for us, so it was really difficult here to really know. The car felt very stiff, there are lots of bumps, it's tricky," he said.
"I definitely noticed one particular part of the car that was better but I don't know how that will be next week. I'm sure the whole thing will be a much better package next week."
Thursday June 1
2pm: Drivers' Press Conference
Friday June 2
8.50am: F3 Practice
10.00am: F2 Practice
12pm: Spanish GP Practice One (session starts 12.30pm)
1.55pm: F3 Qualifying
2.50pm: F2 Qualifying
3.45pm: Spanish GP Practice Two (session starts 4pm)
5.15pm: The F1 Show: Spain
Saturday June 3
9.25am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Spanish GP Practice Three (session starts 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Spanish GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: Spanish GP Qualifying
6.15pm: IndyCar - Detroit GP Qualifying
Sunday June 4
8.50am: F3 Feature Race
10.20am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Spanish GP build-up
2pm: THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag Spanish GP reaction
5.45pm: Indy NXT - Detroit GP
8pm: IndyCar - Detroit GP
Will Red Bull's winning run in F1 2023 continue at the Spanish GP? Watch all the action live on Sky Sports F1 from June 2-4 Get Sky Sports
