Mercedes is targeting “some victories” by the end of the 2023 Formula 1 season following the introduction of their upgraded W14 car.
The German Constructor unveiled the heavily-revised W14 at the Monaco Grand Prix, which resulted in their strongest performance of the season at the subsequent race in Spain with a double podium finish.
Lewis Hamilton secured a second-place finish in Barcelona and followed it up with a third-place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix, trailing behind Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso.
Meanwhile, George Russell unfortunately crashed out of fourth position.
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Mercedes’ chief technical officer, Mike Elliott, expressed his satisfaction with the team’s progress in the post-race debrief video, stating,:”It is really nice to be now racing at least for podiums, being able to show what we are capable of doing.
“Hopefully, we can turn that into more upgrades, more performance over the races to come and hopefully start fighting for some victories by the end of the season.”
Elliott confirmed that Mercedes’ major upgrade package has delivered the expected improvements, with a second, larger update planned for the upcoming British Grand Prix in the following month.
“We are really pleased to say that it has done what we expected,” Elliott commented.
“It’s helped the car move forward, and we are generally more competitive.
“We said before the weekend that Canada would be a more difficult circuit for us, mainly featuring low-speed corners and straights, something that hasn’t been brilliant for us in the past.
“So, to come out of this weekend qualifying with the cars in fourth and fifth positions, promoted to third and fourth, and then racing strongly, with Lewis securing third place and George displaying a strong performance until his crash, I think it is a good result for us and hopefully something we can build upon in the next few races.”
Elliott also expressed confidence that the W14 will perform better in the upcoming races at the Red Bull Ring in Austria and Silverstone.
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“We have seen the car struggling more in the low-speed corners,” he explained.
“So, if we start looking at circuits with more medium and high-speed content, we believe we will perform better there.
“Silverstone will be a good example of that. Austria shouldn’t pose too many difficulties for us either. Let’s hope we perform well at both of those circuits.”