The priority for Lewis Hamilton is to fight for the F1 Championship in 2024, he explained in Austria, describing a race win this year as a secondary goal for Mercedes in the grand scheme of things.
Considering the progress Mercedes has made with the updates first introduced in Monaco, there is optimism about the new parts scheduled to arrive on the W14 at Silverstone.
This upgrade package will feature a variety of significant changes in the German team’s final development push to optimise this year’s package before setting their sights on 2024.
Decisions were made early in the season on what changes would be introduced to the W14 (considering budget cap constraints) and which updates could only become additions for next year.
More extreme alterations to the suspension, front end and floor can be expected for 2024 – but not all of these will arrive this season.
With this context in mind, 7-time Champion Lewis Hamilton has no doubts about what the priority must be at Mercedes, emphasising the importance of starting next season on the front foot.
His perspective was clearly communicated after being asked if a race win is achievable this year:
“I really have no idea. It depends on where the car goes. I think we’ll hopefully get close, but I can’t predict what Aston is gonna do, what Ferrari is gonna do, where Red Bull is going to be,” he told Sky Sports.
“I hope so, but I also hope that we don’t focus too much on winning the race this year.
“I care less about winning a race this year and more to winning the Championship next year.”
In many ways, Mercedes began the 2023 season by taking a gamble on the ‘zeropod’ concept, one which very quickly proved costly in terms of performance, resource allocation and, above all, crucial time.
The situation will be different when pre-season begins next year, with the Brackley squad having established more reliable foundations to build upon for these regulations.
Although it is unclear how severely Red Bull’s wind tunnel penalisation will impact them, the Silver Arrows must take whatever advantages they can to fight with the Austrian squad for the Championship.
Red Bull has the luxury of heading into 2024 with a head-start over its rivals, with much of the grid now taking inspiration from the RB19 for their own updates.
Imitation is the most sincere form of flattering in F1, so Adrian Newey and Pierre Waché (Red Bull’s Technical Director) must ensure they continue to stay one step ahead of the rest.
Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari all showed encouraging race pace in Canada, so it will be intriguing to see which of these teams can keep this momentum.
Ferrari will debut another set of updates this weekend, whilst Silverstone will see the latest improvements to the W14. With several jostling to displace the reigning Champions, big decisions lie ahead.
Any issues that are not fully understood from year’s cars might persist next season, but starting late on the 2024 project is surely not an option.
Author: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
