Mercedes is accustomed to winning, and to winning well. Despite finishing (almost) second in the constructors’ standings, the squad will look back on 2023 as yet another letdown. They have battled with their car and its consistency since the new ground effect rulebook was adopted for 2022, with Team Principal Toto Wolff even labelling this year’s W14 “miserable” at one point. Here’s their year-end report…
Best result
Lewis Hamilton finished second in Australia, Spain, and Mexico.
Lewis Hamilton failed to win a Grand Prix for the second consecutive season, after having done so in every previous F1 season since his debut in 2007. But it hasn’t been for a lack of effort.
The seven-time world champion finished third three times this year and could have finished fourth had he not been disqualified from the Austin results. In 2023, the Brit had six podiums in a car that was consistently erratic.
George Russell had a topsy-turvy year, which he labelled “strange,” with a number of “missed opportunities.” The Brit only made the podium twice this season, finishing third in Spain and Abu Dhabi, although he crashed out in the final moments in Singapore, which could have earned him another third-place finish.
Qualifying in pairs
11-11 Lewis Hamilton Mr. George Russell
Despite the issues the W14 has caused, the Mercedes drivers have been neck-and-neck in the qualifying head-to-head. There were some notable attempts as well, including P2 and P3 grid positions (for Russell and Hamilton, respectively) in both Australia and Qatar – but their Qatar ambitions were shattered when the duo crashed at the first corner of the race, knocking Hamilton out.
The honour of having the best qualifying result goes to the 38-year-old, who miraculously grabbed pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix. His radio reaction made every fan realise how much that mattered.
Head-to-head competition
15-6 to Lewis Hamilton Mr. George Russell
When it came to race day, Hamilton had the upper hand over his teammate, with Russell being extremely critical of his own performance during the season. Following his accident with Max Verstappen in the season’s penultimate race in Las Vegas, he accepted full responsibility and referred to it as the “story of my season.”
Russell has had his share of bad luck, with four DNFs in 2023, one of which being the aforementioned incident in Singapore as he pursued down the top two in the final stages, but he still has a lot of potential. He will undoubtedly hope for more in 2024.
Similarly, Hamilton will seek more in 2024, while not receiving any.
The best time
Securing second place in the constructors’ standings at the end of the season has to be considered one of Mercedes’ best moments of the year, but they will be the first to acknowledge that they do not consider this a success.
Their double podium in Spain is obviously a contender, but Hamilton’s pole at the Hungaroring undoubtedly wins in terms of sheer emotion – and the biggest cheers. At the end of a nail-biting practice, his lap was simply magnificent, as he secured a memorable maiden pole since 2021.
Worst experience
There could be a few options for this, but look at the aftermath of the Brazilian Grand Prix, when Mercedes was in a bad mood.
What made matters worse was that there had been waves of optimism following the last race in Mexico, where Hamilton finished second and Russell finished sixth. In Brazil, however, Russell was forced to retire, while Hamilton could only finish eighth.
It was evident that neither car could compete in terms of speed in Sao Paulo, prompting Wolff to give one of his most emotional comments, calling the performance “inexcusable.” He went on to describe the W14 as a “miserable thing” that “didn’t deserve to win.”
Sure enough, it never went away.
In the future
Mercedes is still a winning team; the objective for 2024 is to get the car right after two errors following the regulation revisions in 2022. Hamilton has long stated that when he first drove the W14, it felt exactly like their 2022 effort, despite his requests for “certain changes” that were not implemented.
Mercedes has already admitted that their design concept for 2022, which they continued into 2023, did not work, and – with James Allison also returning as Mercedes’ Technical Director following an April restructuring – the direction appears to be clearer.
Having saying that, there is a lot of catching up to accomplish. The squad, as Wolff phrased it, has “Mount Everest to climb” if they want to seriously challenge Red Bull next season.
Hamilton’s slightly more hopeful viewpoint is that Mercedes has found their “North Star” currently. It remains to be seen where that star will lead…
