F1 Imola GP: Mercedes Reveals More Details on Upcoming W14 Upgrades

One of the greatest losers from the new ruleset is Mercedes, whose reign at the top of the sport has been terminated by Red Bull. Mercedes had won the Constructors' Championship for eight straight years, but last year they lost to Red Bull because the Silver Arrows fell well behind the competition. Mercedes has struggled in 2023, finishing on the podium only once (P2) throughout five races, in Australia. Mercedes has fallen to third place this season, behind Red Bull and Aston Martin, due to its inability to compete. There was some optimism that the striking 'zero-sidepod' look introduced with the W13 model still had unrealised potential, but it soon became clear that the new car would be unable to challenge Red Bull. Even before Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted that the W14 design "didn't work out," Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton had said that they were on the "wrong track" during Friday practice in Bahrain.

Also Read: F1 Imola GP: Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Under Threat Due to Wild Weather

Mercedes New Upgrades

It may seem strange that it has taken Mercedes two and a half months to have their new cars ready, given that they knew they needed to make significant alterations after the first race of the season. Last week, Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin explained that the team realised they lacked a championship-contending package at the Bahrain GP and that the W14 wouldn't end up in a position where the team felt it could challenge Red Bull if the Engineers continued in their current development direction.

Mercedes has put a lot of effort into improving the front suspension. The RB19's suspension is one area in which Red Bull has excelled. For a more grounded ride, the Red Bull suspension is optimised for 'anti-dive' during braking and 'squat' during acceleration. A car's lap time improves in proportion to the amount of downforce it generates, therefore getting as low to the track as possible is advantageous. As a result, Red Bull may use a smaller rear wing, resulting in reduced drag and increased top speed. Given Red Bull's stellar beginning to the year, Mercedes' decision to prioritise the floor and their front suspension makes sense.

New qualifying format for Imola GP

This weekend in Imola, Formula One will debut a new qualifying method in conjunction with a new tyre specification. Even though the Formula One race this weekend isn't a Sprint race, qualifying will still take place on Saturday, although in a different format than normal. Traditional Q1, Q2, and Q3 sessions will set Sunday's grid for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but a rule change has just been revealed for the key qualifying hour. 

As opposed to practice sessions, drivers will have to utilise the same tyre compound in qualifying. The drivers will be required to use the white-walled Hard tyres in Q1, and the yellow-walled Medium tyres in Q2 if they make it that far.

The top 10 qualifiers for the pole position shootout will get to test out the Soft tyres. The 18-minute, 15-minute, and 12-minute qualifying segments will remain unchanged. In addition, instead of having access to 13 sets of dry-weather tyres throughout the course of the weekend, each driver will only have access to 11.