Why Mercedes see ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ with development route 

Despite lagging behind the dominant RB19 of runaway leaders Red Bull this season, Mercedes have made steady progress with a series of large upgrades introduced prior to the summer break.

The biggest update arrived in Monaco, where Mercedes debuted a revised sidepod design amid a revamp of their W14 which the Silver Arrows hope will ultimately help them get back to the front of the grid. 

“The positives are that we clearly see some development route that functions,” team principal Toto Wolff said in a Mercedes video summarising the first half of the 2023 season. 

“We understand where we need to add performance. It’s a frustrating process because it takes time to change a car fundamentally in the concept, in aerodynamics. 

“But there’s definitely light at the end of the tunnel.”

But Wolff admitted improvements still need to be made in order to give drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell a more consistent car. 

“I think the main areas of improvements is just to give the drivers a more reliable car,” he added. 

“It’s not about the absolute amount of downforce, but it’s just for them to know that the car is going to be stable when they turn into a corner, which isn’t the case at the moment.”

Although Mercedes have already confirmed more upgrades are on the way for the remainder of the campaign, Wolff stressed that development of the W14 has “almost stopped”.

“The sails are set for 2024 now with the car development almost stopped for this year,” Wolff said. 

“I find that good because there is so much we can optimise on the current car without looking too much at upgrades. 

“Let’s see how we can really get it into more of a sweet-spot whilst gaining lots of understanding for next year.”