"Is it a sign of desperation?": Mercedes bringing the major upgrade package to the 2023 F1 Monaco GP is surprising

F1 pundit and presenter Tom Clarkson recently shared his feelings on how Mercedes is bringing upgrades to the 2023 F1 Monaco GP.

The Circuit de Monaco is known for its narrowness and slow corners. Hence, most teams avoid bringing any new upgrades to the race since the cars are more prone to accidents than in any other race on the entire calendar. Moreover, the track demands a high downforce package, which is completely different from any other race as well.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Clarkson spoke about how Mercedes are bringing upgrades to the Monaco GP, unlike other teams that delaying the upgrades until the Spanish GP, which is ideal for testing new car parts.

He also addressed the risks of bringing new car updates to Monaco since drivers have a higher chance of crashing and ruining the car.

"I'm really interested that Mercedes are bringing these upgrades to Monaco," Tom Clarkson said. "Because the obvious thing to do is what Ferrari are doing and just delay everything a week because there are so many risks associated with Monaco."

"We have sort of discussed it, look at the mistakes drivers have made over the years," he added. "You just glance a barrier ever so slightly, and that can put you out of the race and could damage an upgrade."

The F1 presenter also speculated that either the Silver Arrows have extremely positive results from the tests or they are simply desperate to bring new upgrades and turn their fortunes as soon as possible.

"So the fact that Mercedes are bringing these upgrades, I think it could mean one of two things," Clarkson said. "Is it because they have seen, you know, on the simulator that it is so much faster that we just have to bring them because it is worth half a second a lap? Or is it a sign of desperation? We are not sure, and the sooner we find out with some on-track running, the better. It could be either of those things."

---

George Russell was not overconfident about new Mercedes upgrades that were supposed to come in Imola GP

Before the 2023 F1 Emilia Romagna GP was cancelled, George Russell admitted that the Mercedes upgrades that were coming to Imola were not going to bring any drastic changes to the W14 F1 car.

He only hoped that the new parts would be good enough to somewhat close the gap to the top. Russell told Motorsport.com:

"Imola is a new weekend. We'll have some new bits on the car. Hopefully, that's positive. It's not going to change the world for us in the short term, but hopefully, it's a step in the right direction."

"I think we can't get carried away ourselves," he added. "We need to do the talking on the track. We need to see how the upgrades perform when we get there. Fingers crossed, they're brilliant, but we'll only know that on Friday morning."

Of course, the Imola GP was cancelled due to adverse climate conditions. Hence, it is safe to say that Mercedes might bring the new car parts to the Monaco GP.