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F1 pundit Peter Windsor recently analyzed Mercedes' dismal weekend in Austria on his YouTube channel. The Briton looked at McLaren's pace relative to the Silver Arrows, drawing a comparison between the two iconic teams.
The Brackley-based squad had a disappointing outing at the Red Bull Ring despite their previously successful upgrades. Unfortunately, Lewis Hamilton struggled to keep his W14 within the white lines, suffering from both oversteer and understeer.
To make matters worse for the German team, Lando Norris' upgraded McLaren was somehow much faster than Hamilton, with the Briton excelling in Austria. Speaking to his YouTube channel about the team's woes, Windsor stated:
“And Mercedes? Not only will they be thinking: ‘Red Bull, impossible; Ferrari have now done what we were hoping to do, which is one kick in the teeth. And then the second kick in the teeth? Now we’re slower than McLaren. Yeah, we caught up to Aston Martin but McLaren have now got us."
He concluded his analysis with:
“And Alpine were not that far away. In the back half of the race, Pierre Gasly was doing the same sort of lap times as Lewis and George – in the Alpine. So, again, a very, very difficult time for Mercedes.”
Toto Wolff claims Mercedes suffered from 'all conditions'
A frustrated Wolff claimed that his team suffered from all possible conditions at the 2023 F1 Austrian GP. Mercedes' team principal pointed out that the W14 suffered from both oversteer and understeer, showing a negative contrast to the previous two races.
The seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who is known for his precise driving, was a victim of numerous track limits penalties at the Red Bull Ring due to all of the inconsistencies in the car. Furthermore, the Briton complained about his condition over the team radio, requiring Wolff to step in to calm down the world champion.
Speaking about the terrible conditions in Austria, the Mercedes boss told the Italian wing of Motorsport.com:
"We had foreseen that Montreal would not be ideal and instead it was surprisingly good, while in Austria we thought that high speed would save our poor performance at low speed, But that was not the case. I think in high speed we were on par with some of the best, but the car was never in the right place. We suffered from all conditions, from understeer to oversteer. It never went well."
The Silver lining for the Silver Arrows is that they are set to bring another set of significant upgrades to the 2023 F1 British GP this weekend.
