Coming into 2022, Mercedes had won eight constructors’ championships in a row and with good reason.
The Silver Arrows have consistently churned out title winning cars since the major regulation changes in 2014, often baffling fans with their ever-impressive feats of engineering.
The W11 in 2020 is commonly known amongst fans as one of the most impressive Formula 1 cars of all time, with the telemetry showing the car going flat out around sections of Spa Francorchamps where it was believed impossible to do so.
The W13 unfortunately did not live up to Mercedes’ high standards, as the car looked significantly off the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull and also struggled with a major porpoising problem in the early stages of the season.
READ: Max Verstappen fires back at Lewis Hamilton over Abu Dhabi heartbreak
Mercedes’ Director of Trackside Engineering, Andrew Shovlin has now revealed that the team identified the issues with the W13 even before the start of the season in Bahrain.
“To be honest the signs were there from the very, very early running, even on the filming day that we did at Silverstone,” explained Shovlin.
“We then went for three days in Barcelona and the car was not that competitive.
“But we were expecting a big update that we were going to bring to Bahrain. That was the point that we realised that we had a serious issue, at the Bahrain test.
“We put the update kit on and it simply didn’t make the car go quicker.”
Toto Wolff has claimed that battling their porpoising issue cost Mercedes around half a season’s worth of development, which caused them to be left behind by Red Bull and Ferrari in the first half of 2022.
Mercedes finished third in the constructors’ championship and were a stronger result in Abu Dhabi away from overtaking Ferrari and snatching the runner up spot behind Red Bull.
READ: Toto Wolff confused about 2019 Brazil GP result
The team brought major upgrades to the Grand Prix in Austin and were competitive ever since, picking up their first win in Brazil with a stunning one-two finish led by George Russell.
Mattia Binotto has suggested the Mercedes’ late resurgence was only down to Ferrari and Red Bull’s decision to switch their attention to designing their 2023 car, while the Silver Arrows continued to develop the W13.
With Ferrari experiencing a change in management and Red Bull hindered by their cost cap breach penalty, 2023 may provide the perfect opportunity for Mercedes to bounce back from their 2022 failures.