“A Mercedes Double DNF in the First Round”: Uneasy Fans Refuse to Fall Into Toto Wolff’s Trap With Bold New Promise

2022 was a year of big changes in Formula 1. The ruling body introduced new car regulations that brought out radical changes in car designs. Among them was Mercedes, who caught everyone by surprise by bringing in the “zero-pod” design. The gamble, however, did not pay off as the car remained slow and struggled with porpoising issues. Toto Wolff recently came out and told the 2023 car will be “full of surprises”. However, fans are not amused.

The recently concluded season was a disaster for Mercedes as they registered only a single win. It was even more traumatizing for Lewis Hamilton who endured a physical beating in the car as it bounced off the track too much. Moreover, the 7-time champion, for the first time in his long F1 career, went a full season without a race win.

Toto Wolff makes tall claims for the 2023 Mercedes car

As the season progressed towards the final few races, the Silver Arrows showed signs of resurgence. The final set of amendments made ahead of the US Grand Prix paid off as the two Mercedes drivers challenged Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for the race wins. Despite that, they could only win one race out of the four remaining fixtures.

Speaking with media, including Planet F1, about the next season’s car, Wolff said, “It’s full of surprises. The last time I saw it I thought ‘oh this looks the same [as the W13]’ but here’s hoping it’s not the same,” Toto continued. “I’m pretty much like you, I go into the wind tunnel and it looks like this year’s car but they say to me it’s very different underneath.”

Even Red Bull‘s chief engineer predicted his rivals will sport a different design. Take a look at how the fans reacted to the Mercedes boss’ claims.

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Some fans want the car to be fast—that’s it. The big failure in 2022 left them too traumatized and words will not help them recover, only results on the track will.

Mercedes made some tall claims before the 2022 season as well. While they did surprise us with their side pod design, It didn’t really perform as well as they wanted it to.

Mercedes’ 2020 car, the W11, had an unexpected invention called Dual Axis Steering (DAS). The driver could adjust the front tires’ tow by pushing or pulling the steering. This helped them approach corners and straights differently. DAS gave Mercedes a massive advantage over its rivals, however, it was banned the following year.

Another fan refused to buy Mercedes’ tall claims. We guess only pre-season testing and actual performance during races will instill the lost faith now.

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What big change do you think the Brackley-based team will introduce in the new season? Do let us know your thoughts.