Formula 1 | Will Mercedes F1 ‘copy the Red Bull concept’ in 2023?

Will Mercedes F1 copy the concept of the 2022 Red Bull and abandon its pontoon-less concept for the 2023 season? That’s what former Formula 1 driver Marc Surer predicts.

Six races from the end of the season, Red Bull already seems to have the two titles in its pocket, while Mercedes F1, eight-time constructors’ title holder, is still chasing its first victory of the year.

The German team produced a W13 that did not live up to expectations and suffered from porpoising for a long time, which prevented them from analyzing and understanding their performance and therefore progressing quickly

And despite improving in the second half of the season thanks to developments and, perhaps also, to Ferrari’s step back, Red Bull remained out of reach and chained victories like pearls with Max Verstappen.

If the Brackley team admitted via its director of engineering, Andrew Shovlin, to explore other concepts than its own for 2023, it affirmed that that of its Austrian rival would not be the best option for it.

« The fastest car is the one with the best concept, » reacted Marc Surer, adding that due to the changes in the rules for the floors for 2023, « It’s hard to say which one it will be next year. »

Surer doesn’t believe the German team when they say they won’t be inspired by the Red Bull, because « Mercedes hasn’t built a perfect chassis this year. »

« They’re going to produce a copy of the Red Bull next year, conceptually at least, and they’ll be back. »

However, the Swiss don’t see this comeback happening overnight, with Red Bull having a head start with their concept.

« Of course, you fall behind when you create a new concept. On the other hand, they learned a lot with porpoising. »

« And I think that experience was not for nothing. It means that they managed to solve a problem, and better than others I would say. »