Mercedes ring changes for Monaco – are they finally on the right track?

R arely outside of a season-opening meeting does Formula One engender such a febrile sense of anticipation as there has been around Mercedes in the buildup to this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. Perhaps it was fated that it would be the streets of Monte Carlo hosting the team’s very public roll of the dice as they attempt to turn around this season and future endeavours. The stakes could not be higher.

At the start of the year there was optimism at the team. By the time the flag fell on the first race in Bahrain it had been laid waste. Way off the pace of the dominant Red Bull, whose successful interpretation of the 2022 regulation changes has delivered a car unbeaten this year, Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff’s blunt, honest reaction was indicative of how hard reality had hit.

Somewhat ashen-faced, he conceded they had followed the wrong design concept and would begin immediately on adopting a new philosophy to turn round their fortunes. The fruits of the process hit the track in Monaco this weekend in the “B-spec” of the Mercedes W14.

At the last round in Miami Lewis Hamilton said he was “counting the days” until the new model appeared but as he winds his way through Casino Square this weekend the seven-time champion does not believe that altering course mid-stream is a gamble.

“Last year we were a little bit lost in terms of how to fix the issue that we had,” he said in Monaco. “I feel like the team now have a north star, they know exactly where they need to go and we’re working on how to get there.”

Very cautious optimism was the reaction after the car’s first outing in practice at Monaco. Hamilton took third place in FP1, behind Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso. While in the afternoon running, Hamilton was in