FIA report reveals all the secrets of the revised Mercedes W14

Michelle Foster
Mercedes' revised sidepods and floor edge for the W14. Monaco, May 2023.

Up close of Mercedes' revised sidepods and floor edge for the W14. Monaco, May 2023.

The FIA have revealed the full list of upgrades that the teams have brought to this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, but let’s be honest, it’s only the Mercedes everyone wants to know about.

After their early season struggles, a carry-over from last year but without the porpoising, Mercedes made the call to heavily revise the W14. They even dropped the zero-pods to go down a more Aston Martin route with the bulge – but without the radical Red Bull undercut.

The new sidepods have gone hand-in-hand with a new cooling layout, front suspension and floor while eagle-eyed fans have noticed that even the wing mirror as a change in camber to extend past the intake.

According to the FIA report, Mercedes have a new “front suspension, front fences, sidepod inlet, engine cover, rear wing and rear corner”.

As per the FIA explanation when it came to the revised sidepods, the description read that it is “to improve flow to the floor edge, which results in more floor load and also proved flow to the rear corner.”

But from Toto Wolff to Lewis Hamilton to George Russell, everyone at Mercedes is downplaying the possible gains saying the updates will “not necessarily guarantee lap time, but it’s definitely going to bring performance.”

Mercedes are alone in their sheer number of upgrades as while early reports claimed Ferrari would also introduce a big upgrade at Imola, one that would run in Monaco, they pushed that back to the Spanish Grand Prix.

Instead, team boss Fred Vasseur has revealed they only have “a few small changes” for this weekend – a new rear corner and rear wing.

“This weekend we want to be much more focused on set-up and handling,” said the Frenchman. “We will only have a few small changes in the car that were already planned for Imola, but the most substantial part will be in Barcelona next week.

“Here in Monaco the imperative is to take advantage of all the free practice sessions by working only on setting up the single-seater, we know that everyone will be focused on qualifying, it’s no mystery.”

Red Bull have also made a few tweaks with a new rear wing and front suspension , the latter of which has seen the trailing edges of the wishbone shrouds altered to lock the angles required at the Monaco circuit.

Alpine have also brought several changes including the front suspension and sidepod inlet while McLaren have a new floor and rear wing. Alfa Romeo have gone all out with a revised engine cover, floor belly, rear suspension and rear wing while Aston Martin have a new front and rear suspension.

The latter, reads the FIA report, has been change predominantly to suit the modified rear break duct and the flow-field that creates.

Haas, meanwhile, have a new front wing. After the regulations were tweaked this season to allow for the supports in the wings to be more aerodynamic, Haas have now introduced their version with five supports between the top and second flap on the wing.