Following their surprising performance at last weekend’s British Grand Prix, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed that the team has “no choice” but to switch their attention to 2024 “pretty soon”.
The Silver Arrows endured a mixed few days at the Silverstone International Circuit, with George Russell having qualified sixth with Lewis Hamilton seventh.
As has been the story since the new aerodynamic regulations were introduced last season, Mercedes were stronger in the race than they were in qualifying.
As a result, Hamilton finished third with Russell in fifth, although the seven-time World Champion would’ve likely finished outside the top five had he not completed his only pit-stop under a Safety Car.
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The Brackley-based team were third in the pecking order at Silverstone, concerningly behind McLaren.
The Woking-based team were exceptional at the British GP, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri having qualified second and third.
Norris went on to finish the race in second with his team-mate in fourth; however, Piastri would’ve finished third had it not been for the late Safety Car.
It meant that whilst Mercedes were ahead of Aston Martin, they were once again behind one of their customer teams.
For an outfit as big as the Germans, this isn’t acceptable.
Mercedes certainly aren’t set to start winning races anytime soon with the W14, with their biggest problem currently being defeating their customer teams.
The Silver Arrows have rarely been the highest finishing Mercedes-powered team this year, something they must sort ahead of next season.
Given that they aren’t going to win either championship this year, Mercedes need to quickly start focusing on their 2024 car, which will likely look completely different to their current design.
The side have a lot to change in order to be ultra-competitive once again, with Wolff noting that Mercedes will soon focus on next year’s car.
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“I think pretty soon,” Wolff said, per Autosport. “We have no choice.
“P2 or P3 fundamentally doesn‘t impact me and the team. It’s about coming back and being able to win a world championship in that respect. That’s not going to happen this year.
“So we need to set our eyes to next year and then, at all the races to come, learn and develop and make sure that we can carry that forward into next year.”