Red Bull looked easy to catch in the earlier part of the season. Aston Martin and Ferrari proved that they could compete with the RB19. But, that dream only lasted until the F1 Miami Grand Prix. Upgrades were not doing the teams much favors nor was the consistency of Max Verstappen. This left a lot of the constructors to strategize about. Specifically, regarding the long-term rather than fixating on trying to close the gap. Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton‘s Mercedes may be the first ones to tap out amid all of this.
The W14 had its fair share of highlights. It got Lewis Hamilton back into pole position at the Hungaroring. Although, the pace was always just good for a maximum podium finish. It was never built to contest F1 Red Bull and Max Verstappen. Upgrades to their side pods and bargeboards were made but improvements were to no avail. The team may be looking to concede as Andrew Shovlin unveiled their long-term strategy, via Jake Nichol of Racing News 365.
“We just need to work to try and improve the development rate. But, the focus for us is making sure we can challenge Red Bull or whoever it is at the front next year,” the Mercedes engineer said. A lot of their goals also seem to revolve around the future over trying to chase Red Bull, “So it's a case of balancing that bigger goal. With, what we can do on this car and also learning with this car because if you don't change the car, you don't learn a lot. A lot of the development is about learning for the future.”
Was this the right call given that Lewis Hamilton still has not signed a new contract?
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