Mercedes are 'cautiously optimistic' for another victory in Qatar

Mercedes' technical director, Allison, says his team has been focused on next season 'for ages'. The last update for the current car was introduced in Austin at round 19 in October. "The lion's share of our efforts have been on next year for some time. A growing amount of our efforts are even looking further afield to 2026. But these last two races are important, nevertheless, because they teach you things," stated Allison, who's using these last races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to learn for 2024.

As competitive racing drivers, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton want to repeat their Las Vegas domination in Qatar. It was Mercedes's 60th one-two in the sport, and their first since the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix. Allison looks at the tyres as a key factor if this is to happen again. "What I would say is that this season has shown repeatedly the virtuous circle that there is between car balance and tyre degradation. Get the car nicely balanced, and you will tend to have the tyres working well for you. If the tyres are then working well for you, they tend to make the car balance feel good, and it just goes in a lovely direction for you," he explains.

Mercedes are 'cautiously optimistic':

If Mercedes manages to find the right balance as they did in Las Vegas, the team can look forward to a great weekend. The Losail International Circuit has similar characteristics which could make a good result possible. "The corner that we were mighty in in Vegas was turn three. There are lots of turn three-type corners in Qatar, and there is not a huge amount of slow stuff in Qatar.

"We should be able to get the car reasonably in its window. But we have been wrong before. We are going there cautiously optimistic, hoping that we can get through these last couple of races in the year with Qatar being at the strong end of our performance," Allison said.

This article was written in collaboration with Toby Nixon