Why Mercedes may be wrong to be so cagey on new F1 expectations

OPINION: Max Verstappen and Red Bull end another Spanish Grand Prix in dominant fashion, while Mercedes looks like it has made gains with its troubled car. It may sound like a repeat of 2022, but there are signs which suggest the team can be more confident in its W14 heading to the next races

Alex Kalinauckas Jun 7, 2023, 12:47 PM

This all feels familiar.

Formula 1 heading home from the Spanish Grand Prix with Max Verstappen as the dominant race winner at the championship’s laboratory track. And Mercedes hopeful it has made tangible progress in closing the performance gap to the front.

“Probably the most interesting thing in Spain was that Mercedes turned a corner,” claimed Motorsport.com magazine, four days on from Verstappen’s triumph ahead of Sergio Perez and George Russell in the 2022 Barcelona contest.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.