Mercedes has not completely abandoned W13 concept: 'Core DNA is the same'

The W13 did Mercedes little good in the 2022 Formula 1 season, yet Toto Wolff's team hinted at the end of the year that the concept might not be completely abandoned. Technical director Mike Elliott confirmed this, saying that while the W14 has undergone some major changes, at its core it is an evolution its predecessor.

Mercedes W14 is an evolution of the W13

"We have completely changed front and rear suspension to help with the weight of the car and the handling," began Elliott when presenting the W14. Still, we have not completely abandoned the concept of the W13, which gave the entire team grey hairs in 2022. "There's significant changes in the bodywork, the core DNA is the same."

He continued: "We have looked at every area and said: how can we improve? We looked at the problems from last year and asked how can we guarantee as best we can that we don't have those problems. It's all in the details."

Mercedes still believes there was "a lot of goodness" in the W13, although the car also had sides that were not so good. So the starting point is to take the good things and leave the rest behind. "After eight years of winning back-to-back World Championships and then having a poor year, many might expect that we would be tearing up the drawings and starting again but that’s not the case," Elliott stressed.