Mercedes made positive progress in Mexico City, so Lewis Hamilton and his group may be on the verge of improvement.
James Allison, technical director of Mercedes, stated that Lewis Hamilton’s preparations for the 2024 season have advanced significantly with the team’s most recent upgrade package performing very well.
Compared to Red Bull, the recent constructor champions, the Silver Arrows have found it difficult to advance consistently in the development race, with McLaren and Ferrari posing a continual threat to Hamilton and teammate George Russell.
But two weeks ago in Austin, the team unveiled a new floor upgrade that will significantly influence how the W15, the contender for the upcoming season, develops. Hamilton was able to finish second on the track at both the United States and Mexican Grands Prix thanks to this upgrade, which proved to be successful right away.
“Well, if we look at the performance in Austin, and we look at the performance here [in Mexico], being able to race cars like McLaren, Ferrari effectively, we’d say that the track data is definitely suggesting that we’ve made a forward step,” Allison said in response to questions about the upgrades following the Mexican Grand Prix.
Now keep in mind that during the past few races, the top two teams have all been making updates to the car.
“The other thing is we collect a lot of data off the car. So pressures off the floor, pressures off the wings, loads on the car and all that data is correlating really well with what we’re seeing in the wind tunnel.
“And that’s crucial for next year because this floor is actually a step towards the development direction that we want to take for 2024. So very encouraging signs, but still a lot of work ahead of us.”
This will be music to the ears of Hamilton who has been keen to encourage but also spur on the team back at the factory in Brackley as he strings together podiums to end his season. The seven-time world champion’s impressive form means that Mercedes head into the final three races of the campaign with a 22-point lead over nearest rivals Ferrari.
Although Hamilton’s primary goal is undoubtedly to challenge Verstappen for the title in 2024, he can still hurt Red Bull in 2023. The 38-year-old is now only 20 points behind Sergio Perez in the Drivers’ Championship as he attempts to keep the Milton Keynes-based team from earning their first-ever one-two finish.
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