Mercedes knew it was set for a 'bleak' 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix after its performance in the Formula 1 sprint race in Interlagos caused 'alarm bells'.
Team boss Toto Wolff reckoned a weekend in Sao Paulo was the worst of his 13 years in F1, as Lewis Hamilton finished the GP in eighth while George Russell retired with 14 of the 71 laps remaining. This was to protect the power unit after rising oil temperature and 'worrying' pressures were detected.
Musconi continued: 'The alarm bells went out during the sprint race because after the encouraging first two laps, the degradation of our car was quite high, mainly coming from the rear axle. At that stage we worried about our performance on the Sunday. Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14 'We organised for a simulator session back at the factory, looking at the parameters we could change between Saturday and Sunday.