Christian Horner recently emphasized that Mercedes has “committed a significant part of their budget cap” with their recent upgrades made by Mercedes to the W14 having placed a considerable burden on the Silver Arrows.
According to Horner, it is now crucial for the team to extract maximum performance from their vehicle and deliver outstanding results. The pressure is undeniably on the Silver Arrows to fully capitalize on these enhancements.
In a spectacular revamp of the struggling W14, Mercedes took to the stage at the Monaco Grand Prix to unveil their highly anticipated new upgrades. The team showcased a dramatic redesign aimed at overcoming the challenges they had been facing.
The magnitude of the changes and their impact on the car for the remainder of the championship is still uncertain.
However, what is evident is that the team has made a decisive move by abandoning their initial ‘zero sidepods’ design and embracing a new direction in the middle of the season. It remains to be seen how this bold shift will shape their performance moving forward.
Speaking to the media, Horner expressed his belief that Mercedes has exhausted a substantial portion of their budget cap through these noteworthy upgrades.
As a result, he emphasized that the responsibility now lies squarely on their shoulders to extract the optimum performance from the car following these enhancements.
He said, “Well, to be honest, I haven’t had an in-depth look at the upgrades.”
“Obviously, visually, they look a bit different. But sometimes the visual things actually have the least performance impact. It’s what’s usually underneath the skin or the finer detail that has the biggest impact.”
“So obviously they’ve bought a significant amount of parts,” he added. “They’ve obviously committed a significant part of their budget cap to this upgrade, and it’s up to a team how and how when it applies it.”
