Mercedes needed early F1 season shock to be bold with car change

Mercedes persisted with its troubled 2022 car concept in the belief that dialling out porpoising would unlock its true potential on the new W14.

But it turned up at Bahrain winter testing further behind Red Bull than it finished 2022, leading to a tough decision to change the concept of its floor, sidepods and suspension mid-season, with the revamped W14 debuting at the Monaco Grand Prix.

It was last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix on the high-downforce Circuit de…