Mercedes ‘found a solution’ - return of tech guru ‘gone down well with Hamilton’

A new floor has been brought to the W14 - and will again be run this weekend at the F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil.

It has added a glimmer of optimism at the scene of Mercedes’ last F1 win - via George Russell a year ago - and given them hope for 2024.

The exit of chief technical director Mike Elliott from Mercedes earlier this week (Allison will again resume that job) is another indicator at a major change of thinking ahead of next season.

Allison has regularly been lauded as one of the brightest minds in Formula 1.

Crofty explained why Mercedes are optimistic with their recent development: “It’s not so much a car that can catch Red Bull. No team is going to know whether they’ve got that, or not, until we go testing in Bahrain at the end of February.

“It’s a confidence that the direction is right, that the technical department is fully aligned and working in tandem - chassis and aero, with each other.

“I think the fact that James Allison has come back and taken a more keen interest, after moving away a little bit at the start of the season, and replacing Mike Elliott as technical director before he departed, I think that has gone down very well with Lewis Hamilton.

“It just feels a lot more confident that the team have got a handle of where they went wrong, and how they’re going to put it right.

“Lewis has been quoted in the past saying ‘the quicker you can identify a problem, the faster you can find a solution’.

“That’s what Mercedes seem to have done - found a solution to their early-season problems.

“We’ve seen that borne out in their recent performances on the track.

“It’s not so much catching Red Bull, but it’s providing a platform with which to go and do business.

“That’s what’s making Lewis Hamilton happy at the moment.”