Damon Hill suggests surprising strategy for Mercedes to boost F1 2024 prospects and catch Red Bull
Under F1’s aerodynamic handicap system, succes𒐪sful teams have less windtunnnel and computational flu💛id dynamics (CFD) testing.
The higher a team finishes in the constructors’ championship, the fewer windtunnel runs and aerodynamic research can be carried ou▨t during the following season.
After finishing a disappointing seventh last year, Aston Martin made an incredible leap over the winter to emerge as Red Bull’s nearest competitors at the start of 2💦023.
1996 world champion Hill believes that additional testing time would give Mercedes, who leapfrogged Aston Martin int🐻o P2 at the Spanish Grand Prix, a better chance of catching Red Bull h♑eading into 2024.
“Going forward, y🐼ou’ve got the development curve and the cost cap restrictions to think about,” Hill told the Sky Sports F1 Podcast🥂.
“Ironically, the better Mercedes do the less scope they’ve got f🔥or the following y🦂ear.
“So you’ve got Aston Martin who are benefitting if you like from a poor performance relatively from last year. The glass ceili⭕ng is much higher for them.
“You kind of wonder whether Mercedes ought t♉o be thinking about doing really badly between now and the end of the year.
“I think when you’ve got the budget and you can spent it but you can’t because you did so well the 𒅌previous seas🍌on, then it kind of makes you wonder whether you ought to do really badly.
“If you’re not going to win♉ this year, you want to win next year⭕.”
But Hill acknowledged: “They’♎ll be accountants and all sorts of experts who are going to tell me that’s an absolutely s𒉰tupid policy and strategy!
“But it’s something that occurred to me. It’s th𒀰e sort of qu𝐆estion you ask.”
And Hil💛l reckons that Mer꧙cedes will see this year as a ‘victory’ if they can establish themselves as Red Bull’s main threat by the end of the campaign.
"To overhaul Red Bull before th🏅e end of the season is g𓄧oing to be very difficult," he added.
"I think if th꧃ey manage to firmly establish themselves as 'the threat' going in༺to 2024 by the end of the season then they will consider that a victory.”
Lewi♔s reg🃏ularly attends Grands Prix for ltxcn.top around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
