James Allison, Technical Director at Mercedes, is hoping for a turnaround with the new W15 in the 2024 Formula 1 season, but wonders “whether that will be enough “
Can Mercedes return to the absolute top with the new W15 in the 2024 Formula 1 season? The team led by Head of Engineering James Allison hopes so. “But at this time of year, you can only be excited and worried at the same time. These emotions are always in play,” says Allison.
“And I would think that even at Red Bull after a year of performing so well, you don’t sleep well because nobody knows what everyone is going to put on the wheels. But we’re hoping that some of the stubborn characteristics in the rear of the car [this year] will be more benign, that the car will behave better overall.”
Allison draws this confidence from current simulations of the W15, which have already convinced test driver Anthony Davidson. According to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, Davidson stated after virtual test drives that the new car felt “like a racing car” again for the first time. Allison therefore sees “realistic reasons” to believe that things could actually pick up in 2024.
Large and small construction sites at Mercedes
The W15 tried to correct the fundamental problems of the previous W13 and W14 cars. “Apart from the handling, it was all about the usual tasks: You try to make the car lighter, you aim for more downforce, more power from the drive. Whatever is possible with the calibration under the current rules. Time will tell whether that’s enough.”
“But it’s interesting because we had some problems. We have tried to work out the reasons for these problems and address them. Now it will be exciting to see whether we were right with our diagnosis,” says Allison. The first real meters on the race track will be the earliest we can find out.
Until then, the principle of hope reigns at Mercedes in Brackley and Brixworth. Allison: “Hopefully we have done a good job with the new car. Hopefully we have eliminated a few weaknesses. “
Mercedes sees the field getting tighter overall
“But in the back of our minds is always the fact that this generation of cars has a rather clearly defined performance limit compared to the cars before it. In the past, cars simply got faster and faster the more love and work you put into them. There seemed to be no end to it.”
“If you think about 2023: Red Bull practically dominated completely and didn’t really look vulnerable until the end. But if you look closely, you can see that the field is getting closer together.” And that could be an opportunity for Mercedes in the 2024 season