2024 F1 season previews: How will the final season for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes unfold?

Let’s face it.

It’s a journey into uncharted territory to put together our 2024 Mercedes season preview.

Given what happened this offseason and what will happen at the end of next campaign.

As you may already know, seven-time driver’s champion Lewis Hamilton shocked the F1 world with his decision to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari. However, it will be at the end of the season rather than ahead of it, meaning Hamilton will have one more year at Mercedes.

How will it develop?

There are certainly reasons for optimism. Hamilton still has one more season in the seat and George Russell is certainly a very capable driver. Toto Wolff has expressed optimism about the team’s 2024 challenger, the W15, as they finish a year in which they finished second in the constructors’ championship, fending off Ferrari, and are looking forward to the 2022 season. I’m trying to improve it from P3.

Russell’s steady, mature drive in the final race of the season was also needed to secure that result, as his third-place podium at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix helped the Silver Arrows stave off Ferrari death.

Will 2024 be a season of true redemption for the team, or will Hamilton’s decision remain the driving force behind a season to forget?

2023 Highlights: Spanish Grand Prix

In the run-up to the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix, there were a number of stories that caught the attention of the F1 world. One of those was undoubtedly Max Verstappen, who had won four of the six races at that point in the season, and again showed strength in the practice session, eventually taking pole position in qualifying.

There was also the pursuit of hometown hero Fernando Alonso’s elusive 33rd Grand Prix victory.

There was a field in disarray, and perhaps even some hope that it might be a strong day for Alpine. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly both qualified in Q3, with Gasly qualifying fourth and Ocon seventh when all was said and done on Saturday.

Then there was Mercedes. After more than a season working on the ‘Zero Pod’ design, which we introduced to the grid with the W13 in 2022, we finally went in a different direction with the W14 for the Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton finished fourth and Russell fifth, giving the team a double points result, but questions remained as to whether the change to the W14 (and the result in Monaco) was circuit-specific. .

How will the upgraded W14 handle Barcelona?

There were some stumbling blocks early on that weekend. Hamilton managed to advance to Q3, but only qualified in fifth place. Russell was unable to advance to Q3 and was scheduled to start 12th on Saturday when the race ended, but there were also voices of dissatisfaction within the team over the accident in Q2, when his Mercedes teammates were united.

“Of course, it doesn’t help if there is a misunderstanding between the two cars. There was a lack of communication and it should have been dealt with in the garage,” Wolff said in the team’s media coverage after qualifying. “But the end of the second quarter was an intense moment, so you can’t blame anyone.”

As Sunday night dawned, Mercedes might have been the result, but the race didn’t unfold that way. Hamilton and Russell both raced through the field on the afternoon when conditions were ideal for the W14, with Hamilton surviving contact with Lando Norris on the opening lap. Both drivers were in the points after 10 laps and on the podium by the halfway point of the race.

Once the dust has settled, the work is complete. Verstappen fell back, but Hamilton settled into a comfortable second place, while Russell held off Sergio Perez to finish third. This is the team’s first double podium since Brazil in 2022, and ultimately the only double podium of the season.

“The low temperatures today and Saturday really suited us. Not too hot and not too cold, nice and fresh and the car was in the huge windows,” Wolff said after the race. “We made the decision early in the season to go in a different direction. It was a risky move, but everyone pushed forward and we ended up with a good race car.

“Right now we just have to keep trying little by little. We are a team that is good at working hard. Once we have a clear direction, we just move towards it. Let’s leave it at that. We have a long way to go to catch up with Red Bull, but I’m happy to see that we’re moving in the right direction.”

2023 Lowlight: Dutch Grand Prix

The weather made last year’s Dutch Grand Prix one of the most dramatic afternoons.

Unfortunately for Mercedes, the weather and some decisions combined to make it perhaps the toughest weekend of the season.

The return of Daniel Ricciardo and subsequent injury, which forced AlphaTauri to rely on Liam Lawson, was the first frenzy of the weekend. And in qualifying on Saturday, teams had mixed results due to rainy and windy weather. Russell qualified in 3rd place, but Hamilton struggled to set up his W14 and was eliminated from Q2.

Their fortunes changed completely in the race itself.

Weather was also a hot topic on Sunday, with heavy rain affecting the start of the Dutch Grand Prix. Despite starting third, Russell left the race until lap four, replacing him with an intermediate, before rejoining the fray in 19th place. Hamilton endured a similar crash and pitted for a change of pace, returning in 20th place.

The veteran driver managed to fight his way through the field and ultimately finished in 6th place, in the points. Russell did not have the same success, finishing 17th.

Both drivers wondered what happened after the race.

“But overall I feel like if I had made a different decision, I would have had the pace to challenge for the top two,” Hamilton said in the team’s post-race report. “It wasn’t that far in the dry, but it would have been nice to have been in that fight.”

“It was a tough race today. We went into the race expecting to fight for the podium, but in the end we only finished 17th. We expected it to rain for just a few minutes, but it ended up being close to 10 o’clock. ,” Russell said. “I was ready for the internship and thought it would be short and I could do another lap or two, but that wasn’t the case. I’d rather have the opposite than have a bad day in a fast car. But I missed my chance today.”

Photo by Edmund So/Eurasia Sports Images/Getty Images

Outlook for 2024

Keeping the focus on 2024, Mercedes has reason for optimism.

The team bounced back from an underwhelming 3rd place in the Constructors’ Championship in 2022 and was able to finish 2nd in 2023. In a year that has seen Red Bull’s incredible dominance, this is certainly an achievement.

And at the launch of the W15, the team spoke of optimism and the belief that at least the W15 should be more stable and easier on the driver than its predecessor.

“A big focus was placed on improving the unpredictable rear axle of the previous model,” technical director James Allison said in the team’s W15 launch report to the media. “We have worked hard to ensure that both axles, especially the rear axle, maintain better tire control than his W14. We also saw room for improvement, such as the DRS effect and pit stop performance. Some improvements have also been made in the area.

Furthermore, Mercedes believes that this year’s W15 has a much better floor and that this is a key element to success with the current generation of F1 cars.

“In this generation of cars, much of the performance is determined by the floor’s interaction with the road. A car’s effectiveness is determined by how well its floor can behave aerodynamically,” Alison says. he added. “We feel we have had a good winter, but F1 is a relative game and time will tell how big a step we have taken. Our focus is on taking advantage, but the regulations are still new and opportunities abound, so we’re excited about the upcoming development race.”

For Wolff, who has long maintained that failure is a necessary condition for success, his struggles in both W13 and W14 could very well pay off in W15.

“As the saying goes, when it stings, it stings. I think the last two years have been necessary for us to recalibrate, recalibrate and reinvent in certain areas. Roots and branches approach is never easy. ” Wolff said when announcing the W15. “But we are making progress and are looking forward to taking the next step with the W15. It will not be a straight path, but when we stumble we will pick ourselves up and keep climbing.”

Development is not linear…it’s no secret.

Therefore, there is every reason for Mercedes to be optimistic given its new direction.

But Hamilton’s departure remains in the air and will overshadow every moment for this year’s team. There is reason to be optimistic about the trajectory, but we wonder what will happen (Gesture to give general direction about everything else going on at Mercedes at the moment) Will it affect their season?

Person under the most pressure to perform in 2024: Toto Wolff

A few weeks ago, when I put together the first draft of this piece, James Allison’s name was here.

After all, Alisson’s technical vision will definitely be a big talking point as Mercedes enter the 2024 campaign, as the team once again tries to get the physics right with their challengers ahead of next year. Probably. 2022’s ill-fated Zeropod design and last year’s struggles in improving and developing the W14 are hardly forgotten. After all, the W13 also won the race. The W14 became the first Mercedes design without a win since the 2011 W02.

That means there is a lot of pressure on Alisson this season, with Alisson outlining the team’s “ambitious” program for the W15 in December. “But still we’ve set out a pretty ambitious program. We’ve got quite a lot of strengths here and we’ve made quite a bit of progress on next year’s car,” Allison said. performance person Podcast. “Time will tell if that proves to be enough, but that’s what I expect from us and all of my colleagues and teammates around me do the same.” I know you want.”

Hamilton’s Thunderbolt changed all of the above.

With Hamilton’s departure looming at the end of the season, the focus shifts to Wolff. How is he keeping his team together this year? How does he relate within the garage with the legendary driver who is set to retire at the end of the year? Who will he nominate to slip into Hamilton’s soon-to-be vacant seat, one of the most coveted seats in motorsport?

Simply put, Wolff has a lot of work to do this season.

2024 Mercedes lineup

Team representative: toto wolf
driver: lewis hamilton and george russell
challenger: W15