F1 LIVE | FP1 United States Grand Prix: First look at Mercedes' new floor

The United States Grand Prix weekend in Austin uses Formula 1's sprint format, so this will be the only practice session at the Circuit of the Americas. The limited time (only an hour of practice on Friday) could strongly impact this weekend, as teams will need to make the car is as fast as possible around COTA, not only in qualifying but also in the race. This is a demanding track not only for tyre management but also for fuel consumption. Despite this, some teams have decided to bring some upgrades this weekend.

F1 LIVE | United States Grand Prix FP1

Upgrades for Mercedes

Mercedes are expected to bring a new floor in Austin, despite the sprint race format, which could make it difficult to test the new parts and find the right set-up for the weekend. Mercedes are expected to bring a completely new designed floor that might take inspiration from Red Bull’s 3D-modelled floor. It could give some useful data and information for the 2024 car.

Mercedes also hopes it will improve the W14, which has suffered from rear instability since Bahrain. Moreover, it’ll be difficult to adapt the car to the bumpy circuit with the new floor: in fact, the surface could make the car unstable in some braking zones, thus damaging some elements underneath the car. Toto Wolff’s team hope that this update works well. It’ll have a role in tracing the birth and development of the W15 to make the car competitive from the beginning. The design of next year’s car is fundamental, so they can start designing the 2026 car as soon as possible, as the new rule changes will be quite impactful.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing are under no pressure with both the drivers' and constructors' world titles in the bag. But that is not the case for Sergio Perez. All attention is now focused on securing second place in the drivers' championship, something Red Bull has not yet achieved since the team's debut in 2005.

Since McLaren released a comprehensive update package in 2023 after a difficult start, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been hot on the heels of the Austrian racing team. The latter even won the sprint race in Qatar, and it is therefore expected that the team from Woking will be the main challenger to the reigning world champions in Austin. However, they will have to keep an eye on their mirrors because Ferrari and Mercedes also want to score as many points as possible.

In 2022, Verstappen broke a record shared until then by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel. He won 15 races during the season, and few at the time thought it possible that that feat could be surpassed in the near future. Meanwhile, the Dutchman already stands at 14 wins in 2023 and could already match his own record in Austin. He could extend it further in the four F1 races to follow.