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Mercedes chief reveals key areas of focus in Red Bull fight

He believes that the team do have a chance if they get an important aspect right

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 16 February 2024 03:57

Mercedes technical director James Allison named two particular areas of focus ahead of the 2024 season.

The team failed to win a single race last season, as Red Bull dominated the grid to take 21 out of 22 victories - the other going to the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in Singapore.

What's more, star driver Lewis Hamilton announced over the winter break that he would leave the team for pastures new at the end of the upcoming season, instead moving to Ferrari.

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Mercedes, therefore, are desperate to celebrate the 39-year-old in style, by providing him a car in which he can add to his Formula 1 record 103 race victories.

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Now Allison - who was brought back into the team to help them get back to winning ways - has highlighted the team's focus throughout the off-season, putting their potential gains down to two main areas on the car.

"A big focus has been on improving the previous car's unpredictable rear axle," he said during the team's official season launch.

"We have worked hard to ensure that both axles, but particularly the rear axle, retain better control of the tyre than on the W14. There's also been some housekeeping on areas in which we had room for improvement, including the DRS effect, and pit stop performance.

"With this current generation of cars, so much of the performance comes from how the floor interacts with the road.

"Whether or not a car is effective is down to how well that floor is permitted to behave aerodynamically."

Allison and the team will be able to see whether this approach has worked when teams return for pre-season testing in Bahrain later in February.

Red Bull Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Mercedes James Allison