"It is thrilling in its own way to be fighting back”: Despite winless streak, Mercedes director relishing the chance of chasing Red Bull

Mercedes technical director James Alison is currently enjoying chasing Red Bull in the 2023 F1 season. Though the Silver Arrows are unable to win any races and are fighting hard to get on podiums, Alison feels the thrill of chasing the reigning world champions.

According to motorpsort.com, Alison explained how people at Mercedes are not too happy with their current situation since rival teams are ahead of them and dominating the sport. However, he mentioned how exhilarating it was to chase the top teams and get back to where they once were.

"We're all going to feel a bit miffed about [not being competitive], even though that sort of unhappiness we see every time they win is offset hugely by the fact that it is thrilling in its own way to be fighting back, to be improving our car week-on-week," Allison said.

Alison went on to praise Red Bull for working extremely hard and dominating the sport purely on their own merit. He stated that he was focused on Mercedes and trying to do as good a job as the Austrian-British team has done. Alison said:

"They don't have a God-given right to be in the lead; they're there by merit, having worked really well. If we can do as good or a better job, we’ll be there, and that is actually a lot of fun. It’s a very, very exhilarating thought once you frame it correctly in your head, and something that we're all tucked into trying to make a reality."

Mercedes is currently second in the constructors' championship with 167 points. They recently overtook Aston Martin to take that spot after the Spanish GP.

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Toto Wolff on future upgrades developed at Mercedes

Toto Wolff is confident that the future upgrades brought by Mercedes will have a good impact on the W14's performance. Speaking to the media, the Mercedes team principal stated how the team will be bringing another set of upgrades to the 2023 F1 British GP, and one more before the summer break after July.

Wolff said (via RacingNews365):

"We are bringing a larger [upgrade package] to Silverstone. And then we should have another one before the [summer] shutdown [before the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of July.] The learnings [of the car] have accelerated a lot since we changed some of the conceptual architecture."

"There should be decent steps coming in the next four races and we are understanding better the simulations, which correlates with what we are seeing on track."

Mercedes are determined to completely close the gap on Red Bull at the end of the 2023 F1 season.