Toto Wolff On Mercedes F1 Car: "DNA of the car is going to Change"

Mercedes look ahead for a comeback for the 2023 season.

Mercedes has had a rocky year and with only three races left to try and secure their first win of the 2022 season, they are pushing as much as possible. The team have not had a season without a win for eleven years, but with the W13 not being in a position to be competitive with the Red Bull's and Ferrari's it is looking like that streak may be over.

Fans were excited to see some significant progress with Mercedes at the Austin Grand Prix this weekend, with Hamilton finally fighting at the front of the grid, after the floor was updated. The seven-time champion was leading the race for a number of laps towards the end but was not able to hold off Max Verstappen for long enough so ended up with the second place podium. 

The team have explained that the work that is being done now is to help them know which direction is best to go for the 2023 car. Team principal, Toto Wolff, said:

“The DNA of the car is going to change for next year, that’s clear.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that our bodywork is going to look very different. But certainly what is part of the DNA of the car, the architecture of the car, will change for next year.”

After months of struggling to compete, Hamilton said after the Austin Grand Prix that he felt the team had taken a step in the right direction but that there was still a long way to go when comparing the Mercedes to the Red Bull. He commented:

“I think, under DRS they're like 35 km/h faster than us. If we're behind them, we're like, 22k faster, I think it is, with DRS on the back straight. So he came from a long, long way back.

“But even without the DRS, I think they're still something like 8 km/h up on us, so we've got a lot of time being lost on the straight, probably four-tenths at least a lap. And so we've got some improvements to make for next year's car.”

Looking ahead to the 2023 season, if Mercedes remain in third place for the Constructors' Championship, they will be given 14% more wind tunnel time than championship winners, Red Bull. Wolff explained how this will be advantageous to the team. He said:

“From that point, it was a significant disadvantage so far because all of 2021, we were the leading team and then we won the constructors’ championship.

“So all of the first half of 2022 we had 7% less wind tunnel time than the 18 months before of Red Bull and much less than Ferrari. Now it swings the other way around.

“Compared to Red Bull, we’re going to have 14% more if we finish third, so that over time is exactly what the regulations were designed for, to give us the potential to eke the advantage out, to claw it back."