Mercedes technical director Mike Elliott is confident that the Silver Arrows have finally discovered the correct development path, to help them catch Red Bull.
It’s been a challenging 20 months or so for the Brackley-based team, ever since the new aerodynamic regulations were introduced in 2022.
Mercedes started the new era of the sport with a bold design philosophy, which saw them reveal their remarkable zero sidepods.
It was like nothing ever seen before in Formula 1, and it quickly became clear that there was a reason for that.
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The philosophy just didn’t work; however, Mercedes refused to give up on it.
They stuck with the same philosophy for the entirety of 2022 and the early stages of 2023, before finally accepting that it just wasn’t working.
It took them the entire first half of 2022 just to eradicate porpoising, leaving them behind Red Bull in the development race.
Mercedes made the bold decision to introduce an entirely new concept at the Monaco Grand Prix this season, which saw them return to a traditional sidepod design.
Their results have improved ever since, with Lewis Hamilton having claimed three podiums since Monaco.
George Russell has also claimed a rostrum, suggesting that it was the right decision by Mercedes to scrap their previous philosophy.
Whilst they’re finally going in the right direction, they are still playing catch-up.
Mercedes are reportedly already switching their focus to next season, to ensure that they’re as strong as possible for 2024, to take the fight to Red Bull.
The Germans are desperate to return to the top, something which could happen with Elliott believing that the team have “uncovered” the right development path to take.
“We’re engineers and are interested in the technology,” Elliott said, as per Mercedes’ website.
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“As Niki [Lauda, former Mercedes non-executive chairman] famously said, you learn more when you lose than when you are winning.
“I feel like it was a big learning journey through last year, and into this year. The hope is we’ve uncovered the learnings we need now, and we can keep developing in one direction.
“Sitting in my position, to look at things through a slightly wider lens, it’s nice to see the learnings. You then illuminate another bit of the path, and it gets clearer.”