Mercedes arrives in Saudi Arabia already with first updates for the W14

Mercedes is already coming out with its first updates of the season in Saudi Arabia. In a press release from Mercedes, Toto Wolff makes it clear that there is work to be done for the Brackley-based team.

The 2023 Formula 1 season has started disastrously for Mercedes. Last year was already dreadful for the German racing stable, but the new W14 proved even less competitive than its predecessor in Bahrain. Painfully, even Aston Martin, which is a customer of Mercedes, proved to have built a better car.

Updates for Mercedes

Mercedes has been very open about this disappointment, publishing an open letter to fans. ''Since Bahrain, we have had open and honest discussions from which we started to plan our fight back. In the short term, leaving no stone unturned in the search for performance. In the longer term, focusing our development to determine how we get to the front,'' Wolff said.

The team boss is realistic about his team's chances for the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. Red Bull Racing is clearly the favourite, but of course anything can happen on a street circuit. Besides, Mercedes also appears to have already brought some updates for the second race of the season.

''This weekend in Saudi Arabia we will learn more about W14, its characteristics and its limitations. It provides a very different test to Bahrain, and it will be interesting to see how the car reacts. We are bringing some small developments to the car: they won't be game changers, but they can start moving us in the right direction,'' Mercedes' team principal concluded.