Martin Brundle reveals concerning new nickname for Mercedes W14

Jamie Woodhouse 12 Jul 2023 10:30 AM

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton in action at the British Grand Prix. Silverstone, July 2023.

While Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has christened the W14 “Diva 2.0”, Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle has come up with a nickname of his own.

For Mercedes the Canadian Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton made it back-to-back podium finishes with the upgraded W14, already feels so long ago with their momentum having since hit an unexpected roadblock.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

At the following round in Austria Mercedes trailed Ferrari, Aston Martin and customer team McLaren as they all battle to be ‘best of the rest’ behind Red Bull, and while Hamilton returned to the podium at Silverstone, his home race, the timing of the Safety Car was key to ensuring that he prevented both McLarens from partaking in the podium celebrations.

“Knife Edge” nickname given to Mercedes W14 by Martin Brundle

Just as Mercedes and Hamilton were getting their hopes up of an F1 2023 fightback and finding a path which will take them back to a title challenge next season, the wind has very much been taken out of their sails by this recent return to the darker days.

但是,说媒体包括PlanetF1.com Silverstone, Wolff made his belief clear that Mercedes can beat Formula 1’s dominant force, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, as “we have a good group of people, the best drivers, and we just have to give them a car that is more predictable and not the diva 2.0, and much more complicated than the first one.”

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And from what Brundle has observed when it comes to the W14’s driveability, it has inspired a nickname of his own to hand that tricky challenger.

“Mercedes keep polishing up their reluctant car – now apparently called Diva 2.0 – and from time to time it has shown some blistering race pace,” Brundle wrote in hisSky F1 column.

“But ‘knife edge’ appears to be its resting place in terms of drivability.”

Hamilton’s hopes of a ninth Silverstone victory, which would have set a new record for the most by an F1 driver at a specific track, were dashed then.

But, he has another opportunity to break that record next time at the Hungaroring, where he has also been victorious eight times already in his career.

Red Bull meanwhile will head to Hungary looking to break the record for most wins in succession, having tied McLaren’s record of 11 courtesy of Verstappen at Silverstone.