Mercedes has decided to run with the updated W14 in Monaco. Actually, this should have already happened in Imola, but this race, as we know, was cancelled. True, there is a risk of driving damage in Monaco, but that does not stop the Germans from implementing the already announced updates.
After the disappointing performance of the W13, and then the W14, the Germans have decided to go in a different direction. In Monaco, the team will present its revamped car, which will feature a new floor, new front suspension and new sidepods. Christian Horner told earlier to expect a 'completely new car', judging by stories from the Mercedes camp.
Monaco is a very different circuit to Imola. Monaco is, by far, the slowest circuit on the calendar, where most of a lap cannot be run at full throttle. Unlike Mercedes, Ferrari decided not to put updates on the car until Barcelona, possibly because of the risk of crashes.
This upgrade shows that they needed more time to complete the W14 design. The initial W14 car was spec B. Now Mercedes has refined it's car based on the knowledge on how it competitors are performing to come up with Spec A car.
Mercedes have clearly played with the rules. They initially did not complete their development for W14. They continued with it and they are now rolling it out.
How can we explain that immediately after the first race if the season Mercedes will start talking of upgrade with clear timelines? It means the development of W14 was still on going even as the season had started.
Put their updates on at the pseudo race they call Monaco.
There's little to nothing they can learn there.
They must be hoping they found quali speed, since Monaco is just qualifying and a parade of multimillion dollar cars for the benefit of billionaires who want to show off their excessive superyachts.
This is a race they should have ditched, instead of threatening SPA.
Its the safe option.
Least chance of being lapped in Monaco than any other circuit.
I get where Toto is coming from.
I disagree. Yes Monaco is just a procession but I think it will provide valuable data about low speed cornering and honestly Merc need all the data they can get about the new upgrade. And if what they said is true that they found lap time, they'll definitely need it in qualifying
I guess we'll see. We do need racing at the front. At some point Aston will have an upgrade as well.
I'm not as confident about Ferrari, I hope their updates allow them to improve though.
We'll know in the next few weeks
Brilliant! I did fear that Mercedes would follow Ferrari and present the upgrades after Monaco. Great stuff, it's brave on their part. They are really putting a lot of trust in their drivers to master a new car at a tricky circuit to do exactly that.
They have nothing to loose…. If they get it right, its game on for next year… one can hope?
Against what everyone thought. I can't wait to see what they came up with and how it works. Will it look like a RB or an AM?
