Discontinuity. This is the key principle that Mercedes wants to apply in this nascent 2024 from a technical point of view and, in turn, on the sporting results side. After two years of very thin cows determined by two disappointing cars, the W13 and the W14, the former world champions cut with the past by presenting a single-seater, the W15, which must try to undermine the leader Red Bull who yesterday achieved the first shakedown in Silverstone.
The approach to today's event was not the easiest at home Mercedes. Two issues took center stage. The first, born and died within a few days, is the one that affected Toto Wolff and his wife Susie Stoddart, who came under the radar of the FIA which had threatened investigations for alleged conflicts of interest which later fizzled out both due to a lack of evidential elements and because the team and FOM had gotten in the way by forming a square around the Austrian manager.
The second, much more impactful, is the one he saw Lewis Hamilton tie up with Ferrari producing, at least so it is told in a somewhat forced narrative, the proverbial bolt from the blue. A roar whose very long wave is anything but dormant. A situation that will put the seven-time world champion in the uncomfortable position of racing with an expiration date hanging over his head.
A reality that is never too easy when a move to a rival partnership is envisaged which might be interested in learning secrets, operational dynamics and, why not, which could point to a series of technicians willing to take the big step together with the rider. Yes, you're thinking about Peter “Bono” Bonnington too.
![Mercedes - James Allison](https://www.formulacritica.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Mercedes-James-Allison-1024x735.webp)
Will the Mercedes W15 be affected by the Elliot-Allison switch?
In relation to the design process, the W15 is the result of the work of the staff led by James Allison who, in the middle of the 2023 world championship, took the reins back in hand after Mike Elliot, father of concept zero sidepod, had been demoted before ending up out of the team in a consensual divorce that seemed quite superficial.
The St Austell coach was considered primarily responsible for the failures that the Three-Pointed Star encountered, also put in the dock by Hamilton who publicly criticized, at the start of the 2023 world championship, the choice to continue on the concept zero sidepod.
Elliott not only had the difficult task of making a philosophical shift, the effects of which we will understand in the coming years, but above all he had to close ranks after months in which the design departments seemed to have begun to work in disharmony. Pernicious habit that required the hard fist of the ex-Ferrari engineer who had full powers from the Wolff-Kallenius-Ratcliffe triumvirate. Perhaps this is the biggest effort and one with the most uncertain outcomes. With these premises and in a climate of confidence that is not exactly exciting, the W15 was shown which maintains the black and partially re-embraces the silver of the German brand.
Mercedes W15, here are the images:
Author: Diego Catalano – @diegocat1977
Photo credits: F1, Mercedes AMG F1 Team