“Will Mercedes eat humble pie”: Doubts arise over Silver Arrows’ reluctance to continue with current package

Former Jordan employee, Gary Anderson doubts Mercedes' development package in the near future of the 2023 season as the team seems to stick with their old design.

Mercedes are expected to rise back from the mishaps of the past season in 2023. The W14, although looks very strong, still has some issues as they were revealed during the three days of pre-season testing.

At the same time, the team has kept their idea of 'zero pods' from last year. However, Anderson revised what the team had earlier said about having a completely revised design of the car. As he wrote for The Race,

"Mercedes says it had a majorly revised design in the starting blocks."

For this reason, he seems to be confused by the strategy the team is taking up for development in the upcoming season. He believes that if the team has already decided on changing the design through the season, it makes no sense to start with this design in the first place.

"Why start with this package if you already know there is something better available? What will that revised design look like, and will Mercedes eat humble pie and visually change the look of the car to something more in line with the other leading cars?"

Mercedes were the only one with the unique 'zero pods' design in the past season when teams came up with innovative designs for their side pods. When Mercede's performance dropped, it was believed that the design of the side pods had a role to play in it. However, the team seems to have kept the design for 2023 as well, with a tweak in the design, obviously.

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What issues did Mercedes face in pre-season testing in Bahrain?

The team's W14, the challenger for the 2023 season, has had its hype set throughout the winter break. While it is expected to help the team win the title in the upcoming season, the pre-season testing revealed some of the issues that the car is still facing.

Although, it seems that the team has fixed the porpoising issue that was a major drawback in 2022, the car is still struggling somewhat to find the perfect balance. It was apparent when both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were seen struggling for grip a little bit on the exit of corners.

However, it is expected that the team will overcome similar issues throughout the length of the season, and be at least in a winning state.