Mercedes find ‘estimated’ 0.3s with weight saving for 2023?

According to a report from corriere.it, Mercedes could have found an estimated 0.3s in lap time by the weight they have saved with their new W14.

• Weight-saving behind Mercedes’ black F1 livery as ‘zeropods’ remain

Being overweight was a major issue for a number of teams during 2022, with nine of the 10 teams overweight at the start of last year.

In a bid to solve it, Mercedes have reverted back to a black livery - similar to what they ran in 2020 and 2021.

Explaining this decision, Toto Wolff told media including Crash.net: “We are on the weight limit what or we wanted to achieve and obviously when we looked at all the weight savings, everybody needed to make a commitment. 

“So it is really a performance issue, but then there is not tonnes of weight you can save on the paint but it shows the intent of what we do and the narrative is just right, not only because of the historical context of how the Silver Arrows were created but also our attempt in painting the car back several years ago is still valid. 

“So it all kind of made sense.”

The same report explains that Mercedes have focused on making their W14 have less drag.

Unlike for much of the hybrid era, Mercedes were one of the slowest in a straight-line, often 10-12 kph slower than Red Bull.

• Mercedes set to change unique sidepod concept in future upgrades

The front-end of the Mercedes suggests, as explained by journalist Giuliano Duchessa, that this has been addressed.

Time will tell as to whether Mercedes are truly back in title contention with pre-season testing kicking off next week.