F1 News: Mercedes Hopes Dwindle - "We Will Not Be Competitive"
Mercedes' technical director James Allison recently admitted that the team's W14 car still struggles with slow corners, even after notable enhancements. These improvements, first introduced in Monaco, elevated Lewis Hamilton and George Russell's performance, leading to a double podium finish in Spain and Hamilton's top three placement in Montreal's following round.
However, there's still considerable work left to match Red Bull's dominance. The slow corners remain a challenge for the W14, as Hamilton pointed out to Max Verstappen post-Canadian Grand Prix. Allison shared the same sentiment, recognising that the car needs to perform well across all types of corners to regularly challenge Red Bull.
Speaking to Auto Motor und Sport, Allison stated:
“The upgrade has more or less done what we expected it to do.
“I think the reason why Toto [Wolff] is cautious with his judgement is that this upgrade is far from complete.
“It has improved the car in medium-fast and fast corners, but still has weaknesses in slower corners.
“Unfortunately, there are a lot of them on the tracks that are coming up now. Until we improve all aspects of the car, we will not be competitive.
”Plans are already underway for the next significant upgrade scheduled for the British Grand Prix. The team's focus is no longer on the Monaco package but on further enhancing the car to catch up with the competition.
Allison concluded:
“To be honest, I’m not even thinking about this package anymore, I’m already thinking about the next one.
“We were pretty sure that with this package we will be one or two tenths closer to the top, but we need some more upgrades until we are really competitive.
“The state of development the car is in now is already history for us. It is the foundation for the next steps.”