James Allison hopes Mercedes can keep up the flow of new parts for the W14 all year long. The returning Mercedes technical director sees that many new parts have already arrived and are still to come. The only question is whether this can be sustained in view of the budget ceiling.
A new aerodynamic package is in any case planned for the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna next month, although the flow of new parts has already started, according to Allison. “We brought some new things every race, although the amount is of course greater in one race than in another race. Baku will be no exception,” the Briton tells the Dutch branch of Motorsport.com.
Allison is especially curious whether that flow can be sustained, so that the gap with Red Bull Racing is closed in the long term. ‘I hope we can keep up that flow of upgrades throughout the year, although you are of course limited by the budget cap. But luckily we are still in a phase of the season where teams can find a lot of lap time from one race weekend to the next.’
Where can Mercedes have outliers?
Just like last year, Mercedes has a difficult season, but would also have some outliers in terms of results – just like last season. “It’s still a bit early in the season to predict where our car will be good and where it won’t. This is also because our car is not a stable product, but more of a platform that we are constantly developing,” says Allison about where those outliers can take place this year.
Allison thinks Mercedes is stronger on tracks that are harder on the front tires than tracks that are tough on the rear tires. “In Bahrain, for example, we had a hard time and it was mainly about handling the rear tires well. In Melbourne it was more about the front tires and we were a lot better there. Circuits like Barcelona and Silverstone also mainly revolve around the front tires and so we can be good there, although I feel it is still a bit early to predict these things.
