The McLaren boss concurs with Christian Horner regarding Red Bull’s suspicion of Mercedes.
Christian Horner’s prediction that Mercedes will rebound strongly the following season as the race to develop the 2024 technology gets more competitive has been endorsed by McLaren team manager Andrea Stella. The current campaign is coming to a difficult conclusion for the Silver Arrows.
With Red Bull untouchable at the front of the field this season, Mercedes has been limited to competing for podium positions with the likes of Ferrari, Aston Martin, and McLaren.
However, after falling short to Ferrari in qualifying, the Brackley-based team was unable to make the most of its potentially race-winning vehicle in Singapore.
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Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have both struggled to get consistent performance out of the W14 lineup, making it appear unpredictable throughout the entire season.
Mercedes lagged behind McLaren and Ferrari at Suzuka, a track that is frequently a great benchmark for demonstrating a car’s true performance.
Toto Wolff’s attire, however, doesn’t concern Stella.
We don’t know if we are developing more quickly than other teams, he said.
Above all, we don’t know if we are progressing more quickly than Red Bull.
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“And let’s not overlook Mercedes; I believe they realized what they needed to improve. And I predict they’ll jump back quite forcefully.
To say that this is the pecking order we’ll see next year at this point would be inaccurate due to a lack of factual evidence.
Things may change, in my opinion.
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These expectations coincide with those of Horner, who anticipates a comeback by the Silver Arrows with their 2024 challenger.
The failed “zeropod” experiment, which put the W14 at a disadvantage right away, has led the Silver Arrows to confirm that they are pursuing a fundamentally different design philosophy for the W15.
When discussing Mercedes’ future prospects with Sky Sports, Horner said: “Sport is about rivalry for me.
Having competition is a good thing.
Sport requires rivalry in order to exist, but respect is also necessary.
Obviously, we haven’t seen much of him in the past couple of years, but I have no doubt that he is plotting.
I have no doubt that he is working on something.
They make an excellent team.
A sizable team, they are. They possess excellent drivers.
They’ll try to retaliate.
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While Wolff will undoubtedly be thinking ahead to a title fight in 2024, Mercedes must first fend off Ferrari, who have closed to within 20 points of the Silver Arrows after strong performances in Singapore and Japan.
