Teams were sent back to the drawing board at the start of 2022 after the major changes in regulations came into play.
The era of Formula 1 allowed engineers up and down the paddock to get creative when designing the cars for the season, with some designs faring better than others.
Mercedes’ design for the W13 was unfortunately one of those that was not able to get the best out of the new regulations, struggling massively to perform on the level of Red Bull and Ferrari.
It took until the US Grand Prix in Austin for the Silver Arrows to upgrade the W13 to a level where it could battle with the likes of Max Verstappen.
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George Russell did manage to win a race for Mercedes in Brazil, while Lewis Hamilton shocking finished a season without a victory for the first time in his career.
Despite the failures of Mercedes’ 2022 car, team principal Toto Wolff has insisted that he will not be getting more involved with the technical side of the team.
“We’ve been lucky to win eight constructors’ titles in a row, which is unprecedented,” he told The Times.
“And that is due to the fact that we empower the staff here. If I started to meddle in technical decisions after such a winning streak that would be odd.
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“We got the physics wrong. It’s no myth. We misinterpreted some of the regulations. We put too much emphasis on seeking performance in a car that was supposed to run on the ground, very low.”
Mercedes have expressed their confidence in returning to winning ways in 2023, with Wolff claiming that in a weird way, last year’s failure may be looked upon fondly in the future as it brought the team back down to earth and taught them what it was like to fail.
Lewis Hamilton is set to sign a multi-year contract extension with the team in the near future, suggesting that he has faith in the Silver Arrows to provide him with a car capable of winning him his eighth world championship title before he retires.