This year Mercedes had some disadvantages in the form of new regulations. As a result, they had to pass a prideless season. But for next year, the team has got extra time for their Wind Tunnel testing. However, despite the advantage of more testing time, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff is concerned about 2023. This comes to whether it would help or what if they would not be able to utilize it. Here’s why Wolff is unsure if ATR will help them next season.

For the past two years, Mercedes had been receiving aerodynamic testing restrictions as they were the constructor’s champion team. The racing team had fewer tunnel testing and less CFD as compared to Red Bull and Ferrari in the past two seasons. But as this year Mercedes had its worst season, it clinched a P3 in the constructors. This provided the Silver Arrows with an 80% allowance in the Wind Tunnel tests for 2023. Apparently, they can run 256 aerodynamic checking, which is a lot more than its rival, Red Bull.

Red Bull, the team who has won this year’s Constructor’s Championship, is getting only 70% of the allowance. But, as the team is guilty of a minor breach of the 2021 budget, FIA slapped them with a penalty of a $7 million fine and a 10% reduction in the CFD testing. As a result, now Red Bull is only left with 63 percent of the Wind Tunnel test, which equaled only 202 runs, 54 less than Mercedes. Meanwhile, Ferrari finished second in the constructors, so it has 75 percent of the CFD allowance with 240 runs.

2023 Will Be Challenging For Mercedes Because Of The ATR Regulations Says, Wolff

Both the strong rivals Red Bull and Ferrari are at the disadvantage of more ATR. Mercedes should be hopeful about the fact that it has more testing time and it also provides them chances to increase their performance. Meanwhile, Toto Wolff reckons that the regulations according to which the teams are scaled are harder. This is because the teams can’t invest more so that the outcome comes quicker. However, the Mercedes principal is satisfied to know that the aerodynamic designs and the penalty that Red Bull has received will have an effect on their next year’s championship.

Toto Wolff believes that the way of regulations, Wind Tunnels, and ATR are great for the backward teams. This will help the further back teams to make a huge jump and compete with the front runners. And this is somehow challenging for Mercedes. The team will have to face all the backward teams who get opportunities for more WindTunnel Testings.

However, what haunts the boss is if they will be able to utilize this advantage properly. He says, “It is a given advantage that the team can utilize? who knows?” if they can. However, team Mercedes is not demotivated by any means. The Silver Arrows has already started preparing for next year. And with the advantage of 54 more Aero runs, the team is ready to fight back with Red Bull.

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