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Mercedes Director of Strategy James Vowles believes their 2022 F1 season was challenging, character-building, and a story of some great teamwork. The British engineer felt the team was used to winning, so the performance setbacks were a journey of their own.
Speaking in a press release issued by the team, Vowles said:
“I think my four words would be: Character building. Challenging. So that's three of them. My fourth word would be: Teamwork. It's been a difficult year. We are a team that is used to success, used to winning, used to being at the front and we weren’t. And that really has changed the organisation for the positive. We are much better as a result of this and that's the characters that have built and we have built ourselves as a result of that.”
Summarizing the season, Vowles believes Mercedes' streak of wins was halted by performance setbacks this season. The challenging situation brought the team together and was a character-building experience, which led to some collective teamwork. Despite the challenges, the Briton believes the team had a positive and motivating environment to overcome their challenges this season.
Explaining the team situation in 2023 further, Vowles said :
“It's been challenging, there is no question about it. We were not in a position we were used to being in and you have to make sure that as a result of that you adapt to move forward - and we have. I think we proved compared to the beginning of the season relative to the end how much we moved forward but it's probably the last word that is the most important to me. The teamwork.”
Mercedes were a united team despite their challenges, says Vowles
James Vowles believes that the team was united despite the challenges. The Mercedes strategy head claimed that the drivers along with the personnel in the factories in both Brixworth and Brackley are determined to improve their car. The Briton also stated that the team is working collectively to return to its winning ways.
Commenting on the 2022 season and their efforts, Vowles said:
“This team had to pull closer together than ever before. It's very easy in these circumstances, in these difficult times to pull apart and we didn’t. The drivers pulled together, and I am confident we have the best driver line-up on the grid. We have two incredible drivers pushing each other but working as a team to make the car better. We have a team both in Brixworth and in Brackley and at the track as well all working together with just one goal in mind and that is not to win anymore necessarily, it is to make sure that we understand the package we have so that we are back to our winning ways next year.”
Mercedes Executive Director Toto Wolff mentioned to Sportskeeda in a media session that they are confident that they have been able to understand their car better. Looking forward to the 2023 season, the Silver Arrows squad is cautiously optimistic and working towards bringing a more competitive package. The main problem with the Mercedes W13 was its high drag levels, which worked on high-altitude circuits such as Austria, Mexico, and Brazil. On regular circuits, however, the performance deficit to the Ferrari and Red Bull was significant.
