Lewis Hamilton and George Russell Given Huge Boost as Mercedes Drop Major 2023 Hints

Until the last two races, Mercedes failed to roll out a competitive car. Not only did they not challenge Red Bull for the two titles, but they also fell behind Ferrari. Mercedes technical director Mike Elliott recently provided a crucial update on the 2023 car’s development that might become a cause for concern for the competitors.

Lewis Hamilton has never had a season go without registering a race win. Mercedes introduced the final changes to the cars before the US Grand Prix. The amendments quickly paid off as the pace improved and Hamilton challenged Verstappen for the win in US and Mexico. He also beat Charles Leclerc on both occasions, finishing P2.

Mercedes’ technical director provides an update on next year’s car

The porpoising issue troubled Mercedes drivers right from race one in the season. The issue was so bad in some circuits that Lewis Hamilton complained of severe back and headaches after sessions. Apart from that, the biggest cause for concern was the absolute lack of pace. The Silver Arrows will, however, definitely push for at least one race win from the remaining 2 fixtures.

The Race quoted Mike Elliott as saying, “I think we’ve found a path we believe in and a path we can move along and get better.” Elliott continued, “[Next year’s car] will look different, I’m not going to say why but it will look different.”

Team principal Toto Wolff admitted to sporting a completely different car in 2024. “I think the DNA of the car is going to change for next year, that’s clear.” He added, “It doesn’t necessarily mean that the bodywork is going to look very different.” 

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The two Silver Arrows’ officials, as expected, revealed little about the changes we could witness in the car. But, for better competition next year, we hope the gamble pays off this time around.

Did Ferrari give up too early in the current season to develop next year’s car?

Ferrari’s 2022 season kicked off with a banger. Charles Leclerc registered 2 wins in the first 3 races and was 46 points ahead of the defending champion Max Verstappen. All signs pointed to the Prancing Horse’s much-awaited resurgence. But as it turned out, Red Bull was quick to make necessary changes and overcame the deficit to take both titles home. However, it turns out that Ferrari never went the extra mile to challenge its rivals.

Reacting to the Mercedes resurgence, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto said, “They have developed more on the car than we did. We know as well we stopped the development of our car quite early, focusing on 2023.”

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How early did Ferrari stop their current car’s development? We don’t know. But going by how dominant Red Bull has been the whole season, fans will hope to see a better challenge from both Mercedes and Ferrari next season.