The German producer had initially supposed to present the major revamp of its W14 a debut at this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Nevertheless, the extreme weather situation that prompted the calling off of the Imola event meant the chance for a primary run on a extra conventional monitor has now been misplaced.
Imola’s cancellation may have prompted a significant rethink about Mercedes’ plans, as a result of the following race in Monaco is way from excellent for bringing main new components.
The road circuit poses a higher threat of accidents, which may wreck any new elements early on, and the bumpy structure, low pace corners and fast-changing monitor floor make it extraordinarily tough to assemble precious knowledge on aerodynamic efficiency.
However despite the fact that there would have been some logic for Mercedes to attend till the Spanish Grand Prix to introduce the improve, it has elected to push on with operating the brand new components as quickly as attainable.
It’s understood that a number of components have prompted it to not have a change of coronary heart.
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14, arrives on the grid
Photograph by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
The staff stays satisfied that the upgrades, which embrace new sidepods, revised ground and a unique entrance suspension, will ship a tangible step ahead in efficiency, so there is no such thing as a purpose to consider that there could be a profit to delaying its introduction.
Moreover, the staff is nicely conscious that one of many components that has held Lewis Hamilton and George Russell again this 12 months is a insecurity within the automobile – particularly beneath braking. So, with adjustments to the suspension particularly geared toward bettering this, it additionally made sense to decide to the adjustments at a venue the place any features may repay quite a bit.
One other issue is that it will really be extra work now for Mercedes to revert to its older specification automobile than the brand new one. The revised W14 had been transported to Imola and is being despatched direct to Monaco.
So, if the staff had elected to return to the unique package deal, it will have been a tricky logistical problem to again out of its authentic plan and revamp every little thing as soon as once more for the Monte Carlo weekend.