Last Updated on November 22 2023, 1:02 pm
From the start of the 2014 season it was quickly obvious that Mercedes would be the dominant force within Formula One for some time to come. Yet no one expected this superiority to last as long as it did.
The Brackley based team broke records left right and centre winning an unprecedented eight constructor titles in succession. Lewis Hamilton became the first driver ever to win six titles with the same team.
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Mercedes success was born from the huge amount invested by its German auto manufacturer in the new breed of F1 engines. The V6 turbo hybrid which reportedly cost over $1bn in research and development eclipsed those produced by Renault and Ferrari and was the platform for the record breaking 2014 season.
Of the nineteen races that year, Mercedes won sixteen, claimed eighteen pole positions and achieved an average winning margin of 23.2 seconds. Hamilton and Robert were 1-2 in the drivers’ title race which continued to be the case for three consecutive seasons.
As is the case in every sport, eventually the dominance came to an end in 2021 as Mercedes failed to pit Hamilton under a late safety car. Meanwhile Red Bull gave Verstappen fresh tyres and the last lap shootout delivered the inevitable result with Hamilton’s dreams of a record breaking eight world title being shattered as Mercedes were knocked from their pedestal.
The came the biggest F1 regulation change for car designs that anyone within the sport had ever experienced. Following a suggestion back in 2015 from legendary F1 designer Gordon Murray, the sport looked to its history to improve racing and overtaking.
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Ground effect cars were reborn where almost 50% of the downforce was stripped from the upper bodywork of the car and relocated underneath the floor. This meant the air wash coming from the cars was reduced making it easier for another car to following more closely without destroying their tyres. Further, the number of overtakes in each was significantly increase improving the sporting spectacle.
But just as Mercedes had got it so right with the introduction of the V6 hybrid power units, they got is so wrong with their attempts to build a ground effete Formula One car.
The W13 was labelled by Lewis Hamilton as the ”worst car” he had ever driven but despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth from Hamilton and others, the team finished a respectable third in the championships with both its drivers in the top six of their competition too.
For 2023 almost everyone involved in the deport expected Mercedes to bounce back with Hamilton hoping he could challenge once again for his record eight world championship. Yet reality kicked in as early as pre-season testing.
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Lewis Hamilton revealed in Las Vegas he knew the car was not capable of winning back in February this year.
“When I first drove the car in February I knew immediately that it wasn’t a championship-winning car,” he said. “It felt identical to the previous year’s car so that was definitely a concern.”
Mercedes appeared to be having a better year than in 2022, but a string of poor results has resulted in Ferrari closing the gap tot he second place constructor to within just four points as we head to the season finale this weekend.
Whilst this battle will be intriguing, Ferrari are most pundits favourites to beat the silver arrows in the UAE desert race. Yet whatever the result the measure by which Mercedes and Ferrari have been obliterated by Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen will go down in the annuals of the sport’s history and isn unlikely to ever be repeated again.
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Verstappen wins title in just 11 races
Verstappen on his own could have won the constructors’ title for Red Bull Racing and during the middle half of the year, it probably felt to many in Milton Keynes that he was doing exactly that as Perez floundered from weekend to weekend.
Further, Verstappen’s score from the first 11 races is enough for him to have clinched the drivers’ championship even had he taken the second half of the season off.
Should Sergio Perez score eight points or less in Abu Dhabi and Verstappen score thirteen or more, he would have won the title also in just the second 11 races of the 2023 calendar.
Such remarkable numbers have put to shame Red Bull’s rivals and ex-Mercedes boss Norbert Haug has now labelled them “inferior.”
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“Such a clear superiority or, conversely, inferiority, depending on the perspective from which one views the competitive situation, has never existed in the history of Formula 1 since 1950,” Haug told Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
Whilst he praised Verstappen for his remarkable feats, Haug emphasised this is not the basis for an exciting World Championship going forward.
“As much as this speaks to the overwhelming strength of Verstappen and Red Bull Racing it clearly means that the competition in 2023 was by no means good enough.”
While those in charge of presenting Formula One and promoting the sport talk of the competition being closer next season there is no basis to believe it will be.
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Hamilton feeble attempt to stop Red Bull
Lewis Hamilton revealed one of the secrets to Mercedes ongoing dominance when he called for a rule change from the FIA. Having failed to win a race in the last 44 Lewis proposed introducing a restriction on when teams can start developing their next car.
He initially suggested an August date as an example to the Sky Sports F1 crew while at the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix.
Hamilton was concerned such was Red Bull’s dominance that they could finish developing this years car after a handful of races and spend the rest of the year and their budget on the challenger for 2024.
Of course this was a nonsensical thing for Hamilton to propose, given the impossible task the FIA would have policing such a regulation. The cars often evolve from year to year rather than begin again from a blank piece of paper.
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Verstappen scoffs:m “Life is unfair”
Further, you can’t force people to ‘un-know’ what they have learned during the course of a season and Max Verstappen treated Hamilton’s idea with short shrift when it was reported to him.
“Life is unfair as well so… it’s not only in Formula 1,” Verstappen simply replied.
As if to mock Hamilton and his once all conquering silver arrows team, Red Bull recently let it be known they were considering abandoning their uber dominant RB19 for a completely new concept car in 2024.
La Gazzetta dello Sport recently reported that the RB20 will be “radically different” in the way it generates downforce as the floor and Venturi tunnels will operate in an alternative fashion creating the ground effect.
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It describes the RB20 challenger as one which will have learned from the current concepts and be developed to “an extreme level” as Red Bull seek to “annihilate” their rivals once again.
Off course closer racing and a much tighter championship battle is something the fans would prefer, but Formula One has rarely been that way during its history and as it enters its 75th season there’s no reason to believe it will be so in 2024.
There are many ways to enjoy the sport even when it is dominated by one driver. The ongoing drought of Lewis Hamilton’s 44 races without a win is something that may come to an end with every new race that passes.
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Mercedes less aero time and possibly still 3rd
The intense battle between Ferrari and Mercedes will have fans glued to their seats to see this weekend whether the Scuderia can overturn the four point lead of their closest rivals.
But the irony of Mercedes finishing just third would not be lost on those who work in the aerodynamic departments which have restricted wind tunnel and CFD time.
At the point this year when the handicap was applied for the next 12 months aero restrictions, Mercedes were in fact in second place and ahead of Ferrari. So they will have less development time allowed for 12 months than the Scuderia – who may end up claiming the plaudits for actually finishing runners up to Red Bull Racing.
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With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
