Former F1 driver reveals the missing 'last key' for Mercedes to fight for titles in 2023

Mercedes finished third in the constructors' standings at the end of the 2022 F1 season. After years of dominance, the team struggled to keep up with front-runners Red Bull and Ferrari. The Silver Arrows had major porpoising issues at the start of the season. Though the team gradually tackled the bouncing, they were met with another aerodynamic problem.

Nico Rosberg, a former Mercedes F1 driver, spoke about how the W13 massively struggled with drag. The car was quite slow in Abu Dhabi, especially on the straights, the reason being that the car was too draggy. Rosberg pointed out how the car looks good in other aspects but needs to work on reducing the drag to challenge for the titles in the 2023 F1 season.

Nico Rosberg said:

"A lot of it will come down to them [Mercedes] still struggling with drag on the straights, the car inherently has more drag than a Ferrari and a Red Bull and that’s something that they still need to try and figure out. I think that’s the last key that is missing in order to really challenge for wins and championships next year."

Nico Rosberg also mentioned how the team has a really strong driver line-up with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. He praised Hamilton for performing at a high level even at his age (37), and commended Russell for being competitive as well. The former Mercedes driver said:

"I think they have such an incredibly strong driver line-up. Because Lewis is still at his very best and yet George is always there, he’s always right next to Lewis, a little bit in front or a little bit behind. So they are so closely matched, and I think their driver line-up is super strong."

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Mercedes made several mistakes at 2022 F1 Abu Dhabi GP, feels Toto Wolff

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was not happy with his team's result at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton was forced to retire the car due to a hydraulic issue, whereas George Russell finished the race in P5.

Toto Wolff mentioned how the W13 didn't have ample pace to fight for the podium and also pointed out how the team made several mistakes. He was disappointed since Hamilton's car had to retire while the other (Russell's) was struggling to keep the tires intact. Toto said:

"That was really not good. All the mistakes you can make, a car that was not at the pace it should have been. Third quickest today – one car breaking down and the other one running out of tyres. It was a precise summary of the season, and here we are."

The reason why Mercedes were struggling to keep their tires intact was partially due to how draggy their cars were, the same issue mentioned by Nico Rosberg.