02 December 2023 , 07:00
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Mercedes are investigating a brake issue that Lewis Hamilton suffered during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix amid fears it could affect their 2024 car.
The Silver Arrows are hard at work creating the machine that Hamilton and George Russell will drive next season. And both Brits are hoping it will be a lot quicker and less temperamental than the last two cars they have been given.
Naturally, they will hope that the team's strong reliability record continues as well. Though some concerns did creep in late on this year, such as Russell being forced to retire from the Brazilian Grand Prix with oil temperatures in his engine at a critical level.
And Hamilton was nursing a problem of his own in the late stages of the Abu Dhabi season finale. Though he was able to nurse his car to the finish line, Mercedes head of race strategy Rosie Wait said the team is looking at it in the context of their 2024 car development.
"Lewis was managing brake issues throughout the race, which was a real reliability concern," she said in a video released by the team. "So, our number one priority was making sure that we got that car to the finish and didn't have to retire it.
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"That will have affected his performance to varying degrees throughout the race and is something that we are certainly working on to improve for next year's car."
Despite all the doom and gloom surrounding them this season, Mercedes did manage to finish second in the constructors' championship behind only runaway champions Red Bull. But, having won eight titles in a row between 2014 and 2021, this is not a team that is used to or content with being runners-up.
In a desperate bid to give Hamilton and Russell the car they need to take the fight to Max Verstappen and Red Bull, team principal Toto Wolff has admitted his team is taking a massive risk. "We are changing the concept. We are completely moving away from how we laid out the chassis, the weight distribution, the airflow," he said.
"I mean, literally, there's almost every component that's being changed because only by doing that, I think we have a chance." But the Austrian warned: "We could get it wrong also. So, between not gaining what we expect, catching up and making a big step and competing in the front, everything is possible.
"There's a Mount Everest to climb in order to catch up with Red Bull. I have no doubt that McLaren is going to be right in the mix next year, and maybe Aston Martin and maybe others. We must leave no stone unturned, which we do in Brixworth and Brackley. And as tough as it is to be reminded that it's just P2, it's also a great, great opportunity to come back and strive for the stars."