Lewis Hamilton’s Hopes Hang in the Unknown as Mercedes Urged to Delay Monaco GP Gamble: “Never Good if You Want To…”

After an underwhelming start to the season, Mercedes is finally ready to bring in the first set of upgrades to its car. Had it not been for the cancellation of the race in Imola owing to devastating floods, the Silver Arrows would have done that already by now. Given how positive Lewis Hamilton is to drive the updated W-14, fans are excited to watch it perform on the track. However, it may not be the best idea to field those changes in the next race in Monaco.

Before the Azerbaijan GP, F1 went on a two-week hiatus owing to the cancellation of the Chinese GP. Most teams used that time to bring their first set of big amendments to their cars. Mercedes, however, delayed bringing theirs in. They planned on taking their chances in Imola which Hamilton was excited about and talked about “counting the days”. The team has now been advised to delay it further as the street circuit of Monaco may not give the accurate information they are looking for.

Lewis Hamilton & Co. advised to delay the Monaco upgrades

In their attempt to level the playing field, FIA recently introduced the concept of proportional distribution of wind tunnel time. The higher a team finishes in the table, the lesser the time it gets in the wind tunnel next year. Given that the Silver Arrows finished 3rd in the standings in 2022, they are using their wind tunnel quota judiciously. That means most of their testing data comes from actual runs on the tarmac during the practice sessions, qualifying, and the actual race. Monaco, however, is a street race with not too many long straights. Moreover, it has walls that can restrict the wind which can lead to the collection of incorrect data.

Keeping that in mind and other factors, motorsport expert Gary Anderson wrote in The Racer, “To do all this in Monaco is no easy task.” [Translated using Google]

“The circuit changes every lap because it is a street circuit. It is very slippery at the start and you can see differences of a few seconds from session to session just from the grip of the track. In addition, it is wiped clean at night, so every day is a fresh start in terms of grip. Some rain from Italy can also easily blow over.'”

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Anderson suggested the Silverstone-based team wait for another Grand Prix. Ferrari has similar plans.

Mercedes urged to wait until the Spanish GP fields their upgrade package

A major part of Mercedes’ upgrade package includes an aerodynamic overhaul. That is followed by changes to the floor of the car and a change of front suspension. The results in the simulator, as per Toto Wolff, are encouraging. However, the data collected in real-life conditions can sometimes vary a lot from the simulator data. As the data they will collect in Monaco too is not the best indicator, Anderson advised them to go the Ferrari route.

He wrote, “I wouldn’t recommend trying it in the tunnel because not only is it dangerous, but you may get some incorrect results. It’s best to postpone that until Barcelona.”

The Maranello-based team is waiting to upgrade their SF-23 ahead of the Spanish GP. Perhaps they followed the same theory that Anderson suggests.

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Mercedes will desperately hope that the results on the track match the simulator numbers. But are they willing to wait for it for another race weekend?