14 minute read
THE EVOLUTION OF THE F1 REVOLUTION
As the 2023 season gets underway, Mercedes looks to reclaim the apex of Formula One
By Teryn Midzain and Marie-Ange Routier
“This year is not the greatest,” Lewis Hamilton dejectedly told ESPN following a disappointing 2022 season. “It is up there with probably the top three of the worst seasons.” In the modern era of Formula One (F1), the Mercedes Petronas name has been synonymous with victory, winning seven straight championships from 2014-2020, and elevating Hamilton to one of the greatest drivers to appear in the sport. The Mercedes team, led by Toto Wolff, was long-regarded as the smartest, fastest, and most innovative on the grid — but that primacy was challenged in 2021 as Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen won the 2021 drivers’ championship in a dramatic finale.
2022 introduced revolutionary new rules and regulations that Mercedes was happy to exploit. Their car, the W13, employed some radically different racing philosophies that no other team had thought of. The Silver Arrows looked quick, and Mercedes stated that they were on the attack. It all fell apart.
The W13 turned out to be one of Mercedes’ worst cars to date. Riddled with problems, it pained their drivers both physically and psychologically as it bounced around the circuits. There were glimmers of hope throughout the dark season. Their second driver, George Russell, proved the car could still be competitive when he won his first (and Mercedes’ only) race at Interlagos in Brazil, but the triumph was hollow. By then, the championship had already been decided, and the end of the Mercedes Dynasty was cemented. Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing were the new alphas in F1.
But all is not lost for the Mercedes Silver Arrows. The team has spoken about a fundamental change to the car’s DNA and their crews worked tirelessly to address the issues that plagued their last season. If any team is suited to iron out their kinks, it’s Mercedes — but they also don’t have a free hand. A freeze on engine development, a tight budget cap, and a hungry field of rivals are all working against their ambitions. F1 is an unforgiving ecosystem in which every predator can wind up prey. These machines, crews, and drivers thrive in an evolutionary arms race where victory and defeat — and sometimes life and death — may come down to the most imperceptible advantage… or defect. It’s a lesson that Mercedes is learning the hard way.
The sport of Formula One is still on a massive uptake. With the success of Netflix’s Formula One: Drive to Survive, viewership has swelled to make last year’s season its most watched to date. North America has started to appreciate Formula One, exemplified by Red Bull’s new partnership that returns Ford to F1 in 2026. The U.S. has also added two more races to the F1 calendar, bringing their total up to three. The Miami and Vegas Grands Prix, while not the most technical and exciting tracks, offer a degree of media and star power to which the U.S. excels. Nicknamed “The Circus,” F1’s monumental logistical and operational scale employs teams of small armies to transport the paddock to the varied dream destinations around the globe.
Last season, Walter Foreman, UFV’s associate director of international relations, broke down the “excellence” of F1 and why he finds the sport so thrilling. “It literally touches every human sense,” he told The Cascade. Walter has breathed F1 since the first time he saw Artyon Senna’s iconic MP-44 in 1988 live in Hockenheim, after years of following the sport, seeing the amazing cars, liveries, and the best and worst years of F1's and the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) management.
Walter spent time in the Williams Racing pits in the 2010s when he lived in South Korea, back when there was still a Korean Grand Prix, and when Williams was a championship-contending team. Williams’ has struggled as of late, but a new team principal in James Vowles, the dumping of Nicholas Latiffi (the most consistent worst driver in F1 history), and the addition of a hot new driver in Logan Sargeant have breathed new life into the squad.
“You know, I’m a Williams fan,” stated Foreman, “and that’s not easy to say. It’s a bit like saying you’re a [Maple] Leafs fan. They just typically underachieve in the modern era… but there’s a genuine chance for Williams to rebuild this year.” They’re not the only ones.
Mercedes is hungry to regain their championship status. They have two of the best drivers in F1 who both want a spot on the podium. Hamilton has displayed a renewed vigour coming into the new season, smiling more as he watches Russell drive laps in the new car. The W13’s performance issues added strain on the team, but spirits seem higher after pre-season testing. The team has banded together to work on and perfect what had brought them down last season. “I’m really proud of everyone in the team for continuing to remain positive after a tough year last year,” Hamilton commented after the last day of pre-season testing.
The F1 paddock is filled with talented (and perhaps legendary) drivers such as Fernando Alonso, fresh into his new position at Aston Martin. The Canadian-owned team, clad in British racing green, dazzled at pre-season testing. “I want to see if [Alonso] can pull an Alonso,” said Foreman. “Hands down, certainly in the last 20 years, Alonso can get more out of a car than any other driver on the grid.” Even in a car that melted down six times at crucial opportunities, Alonso had been in top-five contention throughout last season, making him a persistent threat from the midfield for Mercedes.
Regardless of how talented the drivers are, a team’s success ultimately comes down to the speed, precision, and dependability of their million-dollar machines. These cars, painstakingly designed and honed, are in a constant state of evolution. F1 is a place where generational knowledge meets technological breakthroughs, and the necessity to push every limit and exploit every advantage keeps these cars at the forefront of engineering innovation. Some adaptations are so successful that they become the new industry norm, while others are relegated to the dustbin of history. Finding out which is often done on the track.
“What a lot of fans don’t know is that [F1 teams] have to very deftly decide when they are gonna pull the plug on the development of last year’s car and start the development of the next year,” Foreman explains. “It’s not in November, it’s mid-season when they make the decision. They have to decide in July and August, into September.”
Mercedes’ record during this period in 2022 wasn’t a race winning one. They had to decide whether or not to commit to their aerodynamics philosophy. Throughout the season, Mercedes refined the W13 to be competitive, and finally, race-winning in Brazil. The car was a great improvement, with minimal porpoising (bouncing). It looked like Mercedes had found the solution late in the season. On Feb. 15, they revealed the culmination of their tinkering efforts with the release of the highly-anticipated W14.
The W14 immediately caught the attention of the paddock and racing journalists alike. An eye-catching and sublime work of art and mechanics, the W14 is gorgeous; sex on wheels, it is absolutely filthy. “They’ve done a lot with a car that at its core, is just a black car,” says Foreman. “There are a lot of black cars this season, with open carbon concepts, but Mercedes has done a wonderful job of taking that and making it look aesthetically pleasing.”
Mercedes’ return to a black car emphasizes the open carbon concept trend that started last year. As the 2022 cars were coming in overweight, or at the weight maximum, teams started to scrape off paint to save those precious hundreds of grams. The trend this year to remove paint and have more open carbon is spread across the grid, as teams have turned their cars to Dark Mode, incorporating more of the black carbon into their liveries.
“Paint is heavy,” Foreman says plainly. “It’s simply weight savings.” F1 cars have strict weight limits and must be within those limits to be legal, but also to ensure the car’s top performance. “We’re only talking a few hundred grams of paint, which is only hundredths of seconds of speed gained,” Foreman explains, “but last year, we saw pole positions were determined by hundredths of seconds a few times. It’s going to matter again in 2023.”
The W14 has used colour sparingly. Only the top of the car is fully painted black, with thinly painted teal and silver accents over the open carbon sides. Vibrant and bright colours are used for the driver’s numbers so they can be clearly seen from a distance.
While some (including myself) love seeing a fully painted car that streaks and dances along the track, Mercedes’s approach is somewhat a nod to the fabled tale of how the iconic Silver Arrows got their name back in 1934. When Mercedes unveiled the new design of their race car it had a minor problem — it was overweight. To save precious pounds, the engineers scraped off the paint to reveal the silver aluminum of the chassis. As the car darted around the course, the Silver Arrow moniker was born. Successful F1 teams need to constantly refine, adapt, and push the limits of innovation.
Mercedes’ innovation really starts with their potential secret weapon: the front wing. “There had to have been a rule change, or at least a loophole discovered that allowed Mercedes to design their front wing.” Foreman remarks. Mercedes used an early concept of the W14’s front wing on the W13 last year, but Red Bull and Ferrari argued and proved it wasn’t exactly legal, and Mercedes had to abandon the design. Now that it’s returned — and legal according to the new rule adjustments — the front wing plays and evolves the overall aerodynamic flow that Mercedes is hoping to achieve with their new car. “That for me is one of the key pieces. There are so many all over this car, but Mercedes’ evolution starts at the front wing.”
Adapting their minimalistic sidepod concept that made the W13 so infamous, the W14’s sidepods have evolved Mercedes’ philosophy without applying radical changes. The tops are wider than last year’s, narrowing down at the bottom. They’re also positioned vertically now, instead of tapering out, giving it a sleek arrowhead look, rather than that of a melting candle.
The W14 has also added volume to their sidepods. They are thicker and wider, more akin to Ferrari’s design to help keep the air wake coming off the outwash moving backwards without getting drawn in too early along the rear. That air can be pushed into a more favourable position into the beam and rear wing to create more downforce and a stronger Drag Reduction System (DRS), in theory.
Red Bull’s RB18 was last year’s championship-winning car, in part, thanks to its aggressive sidepod design. The midfield of the grid has been aggressively reshaping their designs to emulate what gave Red Bull an advantage in ground-effect aerodynamics. McLaren, Alfa Romeo, and even Williams have followed this model. Meanwhile, Red Bull has taken everything the RB18 did so well, and elevated it on the RB19 in an attempt to make one of the best cars in the racing world even better. The RB19’s focus on refinement while the majority of the grid plays catch-up will make Red Bull tough to beat.
Aston Martin, another team in the midfield, has emulated successful aspects of both the Ferrari and Red Bull designs on their new AMR23, resulting in an intriguing design. Last year’s AMR22 was dreadful and seriously underperformed. This year, Aston has totally overhauled their car under the scrutinous eye of their new Technical Director, Dan Fallows — formerly of Red Bull.
Ferrari, like Mercedes, has stuck to their guns. Continuing to expand on their unique 2022 designs, with wider sidepods that scallop down and redirect air coming off the tire wake. Ferrari had one of the best cars last year, but reliability issues with their power unit (the collection of parts, including the engine and motors, that make the car go vroom) meant they were forced to reduce output. Ferrari looked good early on, but their turbulent jet ignition technology proved unreliable. The turbulent jet ignition system affects what happens in the pre-combustion chamber, and was supposed to answer some questionable performance issues, however, the thermal patterns were off (heat would peak at the wrong time), which led to the mitigating decision to reduce power output for the 2022 season. Now that they have had time to properly address this problem and the system has been refined, there is a 30 horsepower (HP) increase projected for Ferrari’s upcoming season, hopefully giving Red Bull and Mercedes a run for their money.
It’s important to note that the FIA imposed a freeze on power unit development in 2022 that runs through 2025. This means that performance upgrades to these systems have essentially been banned for the next few seasons, though tweaks can still be made to improve reliability. These engines are beasts that must be taken apart, studied, and reassembled before each race, and that run so hot the air intake must be located on top of the drivers’ heads and away from the engine. They are so hot that at their peak they nearly reach half the temperature of the sun’s surface.
Alpine responded with a strategic but risky approach to their power unit designs before being locked-in by the freeze, prioritizing performance and leaving them to worry about reliability later. The gamble looks promising. The Renault e-tech engine architecture allows them to play with the aerodynamic performance of the car. The changes made to the shape of the car (on top of a new water pump — part of the reliability issues that had failed them last season — go figure) and some other tweaks here and there, are making them a team to watch out for this year.
Not even the victorious Red Bull faction can afford to rest easy. Some new modifications to their motor generators have squeezed an additional 10 HP out of the powertrain. It may not seem like much, but these organizations can’t idle with so many contenders looking for an opportunity to overtake them, both on the track, and in the standings. The precariousness at the top of the F1 podium is a lesson Mercedes learned the hard way.
Mercedes’ power unit may not have any reliability issues, but that did not stop them from finding ways to improve for this season. They focused on lowering the internal mechanical frictions on some main bearings, the crankshafts, and the connecting rods to improve performance in a way that fits regulations. With a new lubricant and fuel, and a slight change of the radiator’s position (making it less exposed), Mercedes has projected a 16 HP increase for this season. The money, time, and expertise that go into finding every hidden source of untapped horsepower demonstrates just how thin the margins are between the victors and the vanquished.
The first contest of 2023 is in Bahrain on Mar. 5. The race will provide the first glimpses of what 2023 has in store for the teams, as well as how the cars will start to be developed as the year progresses. Bahrain sets up what looks to be a fantastic racing season, but the troublesome questions of 2022 remain. Fans will have to wait and see if the drama is centered on or off the track.
“I think it will be more of a racing season,” says Foreman, “but in saying that, you can never exclude the silliness, if you will. There are so many young, new drivers, there’s gonna be crashes, there’s gonna be mistakes. I feel with so much going on and the teams evolving this year, only time will tell who’ll be on top.”
The 2023 Formula One Circus is just getting started, and if Mercedes wants to be the champions again they’ll have many tough battles ahead. To witness the evolution of the F1 grid for yourself, tune into TSN or subscribe to F1TV, or follow up with the championship standings by visiting Formula1.com
