Ex-Formula 1 race winner Johnny Herbert has warned that Mercedes could face a “downward spiral” unless it makes notable progress with its 2024 Formula 1 car.
Mercedes dominated the sport upon the switch to V6 turbo-hybrid engines in 2014, winning an unprecedented eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships.
However, the German marque has struggled since F1’s return to ground effect cars in 2022, enduring a first winless term since 2011 across the previous campaign.
Having retained faith in the ‘zeropod’ solution before abandoning it at the Monaco Grand Prix, Mercedes has committed to a complete revamp with its W15 challenger.
Despite Mercedes ending the season as Red Bull’s closest competitor in the championship, Ferrari and McLaren emerged ahead as the development race progressed.
Herbert believes that 2024 represents a “critical” season for Mercedes as a failure to get back on the right path could result in the team ending up in no man’s land.
“They’ve got to get the performance,” Herbert told PlanetF1 when asked about Mercedes in his season predictions. “Now this is going to be a really critical year for them.
“Because if they can’t, or don’t make the car competitive, I think this is going to be a horrible downward spiral which they’ve sort of been in for the last couple of years.
“Because their mindset with their concept obviously hasn’t worked and if it doesn’t work this year, I think there is that horrible situation where they’re probably thinking that they are lost, because I don’t think they know exactly what they need to do.”
Lewis Hamilton voiced discontent when his complaints on Mercedes’ direction on car design had been ignored amid the perseverance with the slim sidepod structure.
The Briton also declared his agitation at the position of the cockpit inside the W14 being too far forward, which he admitted had a detrimental impact on his driving.
However, that’s been an area Mercedes has addressed and both drivers commented during pre-season testing that its latest car felt nicer to drive than its predecessor.
“With Lewis, one thing that he’s mentioned about his seating position,” Herbert added. “I know that has shifted a little bit further back.
“It’s a really horrible feeling when, like Lewis says, you’re sitting on that front axle when the car is pivoting around you and you don’t feel that you’ve got any connection with the car at all. So it’d be interesting to see if that makes the car more consistent for one thing.”
