Helmut Marcos has indicated that he thinks Mercedes will be the main competition to Red Bull in the 2023 F1 season but Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has cautioned that his team may not be able to match the performance of their Red Bull competitors at the beginning of the 2023 season.
The Mercedes team, known as the Silver Arrows, struggled to compete for titles in the previous year due to the lack of competitiveness of their W13 car. This resulted in Lewis Hamilton and George Russell fighting for points and podium finishes as the team worked to improve the car.
While Hamilton and Russell hope to be able to contend for race wins and the championship this year, the success of the W14 car remains uncertain. Toto Wolff, the team principal of Mercedes, stated that they have identified the reasons for their performance decline and are working to address the issues with their new car, the W14. He acknowledged that it will be challenging to catch up to teams like Red Bull and Ferrari, as they currently have a half-second deficit in performance. Wolff said, “We understand where we fell back and the gaps in our understanding. We’re putting in a lot of effort to produce a car that addresses all of that, but we won’t know for sure until we begin testing.”