Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that the Germans will consider making “more radical decisions” if their new concept doesn’t work at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May, with that being where the Silver Arrows are expected to introduce a large upgrade package.
Whilst monumental changes are set to be made to the W14 following their miserable start to the 2023 F1 season, Wolff has stressed that the side must find “the right avenue”, in order to have a development plan going forwards.
The hope will be amongst the Brackley-based team that a new concept will give them better performance; however, should it fail to do so then it’ll leave the Germans at square-one once again.
It’s a huge risk that Mercedes are prepared to take in a bid to catch Red Bull, but actually given their current performance they haven’t got anything to lose.
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Mercedes are already 49 points behind Red Bull after just two races, meaning the Constructors’ Championship will likely be out of reach by the time the sport reaches its first European round of the season.
If their new concept fails then realistically, they won’t lose any more ground than they already have, with the key for Mercedes being discovering the correct philosophy to develop.
It appears that Wolff is determined for his side to find the right path, hinting at why more changes could be made upon the imminent concept change.
“When you speak about the chassis, the question is, do you speak about the monocoque and basically the tub or are we speaking about everything else around?” Wolff said during a press conference in Saudi Arabia when asked if Mercedes will overhaul the chassis in 2024.
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“I think the monocoque is one thing and that’s obviously there are weight implications, COG [centre-of-gravity] implications, where does the driver sit, more forward or more rearwards, but I think the biggest gains that we need to find is how can we extract more downforce all around the track.
“And these are the areas we are chasing now, and once you come to the conclusion in the next few months, that that was the right avenue, then things are going continue that way.
“And if we see that is not enough to actually challenge for the front, then there might be more radical decisions that need to be taken.”