The Silver Arrows head into the upcoming season having opted to start from scratch, with an entirely new car set to be introduced.

Their 2024 challenger – the W15 – is believed to feature things which Lewis Hamilton and George Russell both asked for, to increase their confidence in the car.

One thing Hamilton asked for several times last season was for the cockpit to be closer to the rear of the car, although it remains to be seen if the seven-time World Champion’s wish has come true.

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Wolff shared the positive news about the W15 to The Telegraph, with the Austrian having received a phone call from ex-F1 driver and Mercedes simulator driver Anthony Davidson.

According to Wolff, Davidson told him that the 2024 car “feels like a car”, something he hasn’t felt since the current aerodynamic regulations were introduced back in 2022.

Whilst Davidson’s positive feedback is music to Wolff’s ears, the Austrian is remaining cautious, given that they’ve had good initial results in the simulator the past two seasons.

Wolff is hopeful that at last, the positive results in the simulator can “correlate to the track”.

“He was driving Melbourne [in the sim],” Wolff told The Telegraph.

“And he said: ‘The car feels like a car for the first time in two years…’

“Obviously, I would love this to correlate to the track but we’ve seen in the last two years that this was not always the case.”

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The pre-season test in Bahrain next month will answer some of the questions regarding whether Mercedes has developed a good car, whilst the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix will allow people to see if the Germans have a challenger capable of winning races.

If the Silver Arrows finally have a competitive package, then Hamilton will be in a prime position to take the fight to Max Verstappen for the first time since 2021, although on this occasion the seven-time World Champion will be hoping for a significantly better outcome.

First of all, though, the 39-year-old needs to end his winless streak, which dates back to the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

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The positive news was shared by team principal Toto Wolff, who has extended his contract by three seasons, taking him to the end of 2026 as Mercedes’ boss.

According to Wolff, Davidson told him that Mercedes’ 2024 car – the W15 – actually “feels like a car”, something it hasn’t done since the current aerodynamic regulations were introduced in 2022.

Mercedes are yet to truly adapt to the current regulations, with their dominance having been abruptly ended by the regulations which came into effect two seasons ago.

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Since the start of 2022, the Silver Arrows have claimed just one victory, courtesy of George Russell at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton hasn’t won a race since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix; however, he clearly believes that Mercedes can turn things around in 2024, as he signed a two-year extension last summer.

Davidson’s positive comments about the W15 will delight the seven-time World Champion, with Wolff already being very happy by the discovery that an improvement appears to have been made.

“He was driving Melbourne [in the sim],” said Wolff of Davidson to The Telegraph.

“And he said: ‘The car feels like a car for the first time in two years…’”

Whilst Davidson’s feedback suggest that a better season is on the horizon for Mercedes, Wolff isn’t letting the team get too far ahead of themselves.

The Austrian knows that a positive response in the simulator doesn’t always “correlate to the track”, with this having been the case in 2022 and 2023.

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Because of that, Wolff is keeping his feet firmly on the ground, although he admits that he “would love” for the W15 to be as good on the track come Bahrain as it seemingly is in the simulator.

If the Brackley-based outfit struggle at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, then there will likely be a sense of deja vu amongst the camp.

“Obviously I would love this to correlate to the track, but we’ve seen in the last two years that this was not always the case,” Wolff admitted.

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Russell and Hamilton have raced close together in the last two races, with the seven-time World Champion having come out on top in both Singapore and Japan.

Hamilton would’ve been beaten by Russell in Singapore had the 25-year-old not crashed on the final lap, whilst trying to put Lando Norris under pressure for second.

Russell’s crash promoted Hamilton onto the podium, something he was happy to accept.

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At the Japanese Grand Prix last weekend, the duo spent more time battling each other than their opponents, something which frustrated the ex-Williams driver.

Hamilton ultimately finished ahead of Russell once again, after Mercedes used team orders to invert their drivers to support the seven-time World Champion’s strategy.

The 38-year-old has had the edge over Russell at the majority of races this season, with the younger Mercedes driver having been unable to replicate his 2022 success.

Last year, Russell became just the third team-mate of Hamilton’s to have defeated him in the Drivers’ Championship, something very few expected.

In 2023, Hamilton has very much returned to his superior ways at Mercedes, with Davidson seeing that there is still a “hierarchy” at the Silver Arrows.

In Davidson’s eyes, Hamilton still sits at the top of the Mercedes tree, a status the ex-F1 driver thinks he’s “earned” through all of his success.

As a result, Russell “can’t argue”, according to the former Super Aguri driver.

“There’s definitely a hierarchy in that team,” Davidson told the Sky Sports F1 Podcast. “And rightly so. You know, Lewis has earned that status in that team as a seven-time world champion, and George can’t argue against that.

“George is still the understudy, and he’s doing a very good job on those occasions where he’s got the speed over Lewis to really take the fight to him.

“But he’s doing it in such a George Russell polite way, which is quite humorous to watch, because I know inside the car, he’ll be fuming and steaming.

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“And that’s why we see the near misses, the drivers coming, almost to blows, almost to contact, but then he’s a good boy on the radio, he’s very British about it.

“And there are layers to him, to the annoyance, I think. It always comes over as, ‘I’m okay with this, but if you could please, very thankfully, let me through with the next couple of opportunities, it’d be much appreciated.’

“And we’d hear maybe a bit more vocal if things were different. But I think for now, I think he knows where he is in the team.”

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Russell became infuriated last weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix when battling with team-mate Lewis Hamilton, initially for P8.

The pair spent most of the race battling each other rather than their rivals, something which annoyed the ex-Williams driver.

At one point in the early stages of the race, Hamilton ran wide and forced both himself and Russell off the circuit at Spoon, resulting in Russell questioning to the team who they were battling.

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Russell ended up being switched to a different strategy which saw him move up the order, before losing several places late on due to older tyres.

One of the drivers to get past him in the closing laps was Hamilton, as Mercedes instructed the 25-year-old to let the seven-time World Champion past.

Russell questioned the decision at first, before reluctantly following orders.

He went onto finish seventh whilst Hamilton finished fifth, marking the 12th time this season that the 38-year-old has finished higher.

Despite the fact Russell finished ahead of Hamilton last season, the 103-time race winner is very much the number 1 driver still at the Silver Arrows, having been with the side since 2013.

Davidson recognises this and believes it’s completely understandable that Hamilton is the number 1, and that Russell for the time being isn’t in a position where he can argue about it.

“There’s definitely a hierarchy in that team,” Davidson told Sky Sports’ F1 Podcast.

READ: George Russell warned he must ‘think’ like Lewis Hamilton

“And rightly so. Lewis has earned that status in that team as a seven-time world champion and George can’t argue against that.

“George is still the understudy and he’s doing a very good job on those occasions where he’s got the speed over Lewis to really take the fight to him.

“But he’s doing it in such a ‘George Russell polite way’ which is quite humorous to watch because I know inside the car, he’ll be fuming and steaming.

‘And that’s why we see the near misses, the drivers coming almost to blows, almost to contact, but then he’s a good boy on the radio, he’s very British about it.”

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Red Bull’s 15-race winning streak came to an end at the Marina Bay Circuit last Sunday, where Max Verstappen finished fifth and Sergio Perez salvaged eighth.

Both drivers started outside the top-10 following a double Q2 elimination for the team, the first time that’s happened since the 2018 Russian Grand Prix.

From the get-go in Free Practice, Red Bull just didn’t look like their usual superior selves, who have obliterated the competition at every round this season, bar Singapore.

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The reigning World Champion and Perez had very little confidence in the rear of the car, which was clearly a real handful to drive.

Red Bull were arguably fifth in the pecking order and would’ve likely finished outside the top-five had Fernando Alonso not endured a race to forget.

The Milton Keynes-based outfit’s woes gave Ferrari the chance to become the first team other than Red Bull to win a race this season, an opportunity Carlos Sainz grabbed with both hands.

Even before the Singapore GP got underway, Red Bull had admitted that the street venue would work very much against them, with Davidson having been pleased to see that the RB19 does actually have a “weakness”.

The Sky Sports F1 pundit also noted how intriguing it was that Red Bull’s struggles came at the exact same venue where Mercedes always faltered in the opening years of their dominance.

Singapore was very much Mercedes’ “Achilles heel” for several years, before the Silver Arrows finally understood why they performed poorly at that one specific venue.

Davidson expects Red Bull to solve their Singapore woes ahead of the night race next season, whilst he also suspects that Verstappen will be back to the front this weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix.

“It reminded me of Mercedes in their dominant years when they arrived in Singapore and that was their Achilles heel and everybody had a chance to get the better of them there,” Davidson said on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

“They went away and worked on that circuit relentlessly because it was their only weakness, they understood they had a weakness there, and they came back in a couple of years and had sorted it out so I fully expect Red Bull as the great engineering team that they are will get their heads around it.

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“Max will be much more in his element and the car will be much more in its element in Suzuka, I’m fully expecting that.

“I don’t think the new TD and the rule change in terms of more static front wings, I don’t believe that was the main issue for Red Bull in Singapore.

“There will be many teams out there crossing their fingers and hoping that that was why Red Bull lost their speed but I’m fully expecting them to go back to Suzuka and the car be flying again.

“But it is interesting and it’s nice to know that they have this weakness in their car.”

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Back in 2021 when fighting Hamilton for the title, Verstappen launched over the top of Hamilton’s car on the exit of the opening chicane, after opting not to back out of a risky overtake.

On that day two years ago, Hamilton was exiting the pits whilst Verstappen held the racing line, resulting in the duo going side-by-side through the opening two corners.

Hamilton tried to force the Dutchman wide to secure the position, yet the Red Bull driver had no intention on backing out.

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As a result, the pair collided in dramatic fashion, as Verstappen launched over a sausage kerb and landed on top of Hamilton’s W12.

The pair retired from the race in what could’ve been a deadly accident, if it wasn’t for the halo device.

Fast forward to Sunday at the 2023 Italian GP and Verstappen found himself in second behind Carlos Sainz, who he was considerably faster than.

Verstappen tried to go around the outside of Sainz at the opening corner on Lap 6, a move which initially looked “very reminiscent” of his duel with Hamilton in 2021.

However, on this occasion, Verstappen slammed on the brakes and backed out of the overtake, after recognising that there simply wasn’t any room.

He went on to make the move stick on Lap 15, before cruising to a record-breaking 10th consecutive victory.

The 25-year-old’s duel with Sainz was a real sign that the Dutchman has matured as a driver and has learnt when a move isn’t done, with Davidson believing that what the two-time World Champion did was “brilliant”.

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“If you’re going to give yourself a realistic chance of going around the outside to make sure you’re there for the next corner, you’ve got to have your front wheel absolutely alongside the other front wheel of the other car,” Davidson said on Sky Sports F1.

“It’s very reminiscent, I feel, to this situation here from 2021 with Max vs Lewis. In that moment, back then, Max did carry on around the outside and didn’t back out of it.

“I believe in that moment in 2021, taught Max well. So what does he do? He puts the brakes on, backs out of it and lives to fight another day. That was brilliant, it was brilliantly done.”

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Free Practice 3 in Monaco saw another argument break out, this time during an on-air discussion with Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft and pundit Jenson Button.

The unusual element of their debate was that it had nothing to do with Formula 1 – Instead the argument was about buttering bread.

After commentator Anthony Davidson likened driving around Monaco to spreading butter, referring to how the track gains grip as more rubber is put down, Croft and Button launched into a debate about how to store butter.

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“You obviously don’t put your butter in the fridge?” Button said.

“Well, who puts butter in the fridge?” Croft replied.

“Well it makes it difficult to spread, it’s like a fun game,” Button explained.

“I’d hate to be your wife. Imagine the rows over breakfast,” Croft responded.

The moment between the two Sky Sports presenters saw a whole discussion break out on social media, as fans weighed in on the situation, offering their takes.

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Unfortunately for Croft, the majority of responses sided with Button, with people questioning who would keep butter anywhere other than the fridge. 

While Free Practice might have provided an opportunity for debates about non-F1 topics, Sunday’s race is unlikely to do so, with the Grand Prix set to be an action-packed fight for victory.

Fernando Alonso has a chance to secure his illusive 33^rd Grand Prix victory if he can pass Max Verstappen early on, while Esteban Ocon, who was promoted to 3^rd following a post-qualifying penalty, will be keen to give Alpine a podium finish.

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It was a mixed afternoon for Checo at the Miami International Autodrome, with the 33-year-old having initially made a solid start to the race.

He led the opening stages until he made his one and only pit-stop, to replace his Medium tyres with a fresh set of Hards.

This handed Verstappen the lead of the race but with a pit-stop still to make, with the Dutchman having been on an opposite strategy.

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Despite having boasted fresher tyres, Perez was unable to really make any ground on Verstappen, who managed his tyres sublimely.

It meant that when the reigning World Champion did eventually pit, he emerged back onto the track just under two-seconds behind Perez and on considerably better tyres.

Verstappen ultimately made his way past his Red Bull team-mate fairly comfortably, to claim his third win of the season and extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 14 points.

For Checo, he simply didn’t have the pace for the win; however, ex-F1 driver Anthony Davidson did share in the closing stages that the Mexican was being fed very little information.

Davidson, who had been listening to the team radios, informed viewers that Red Bull had been constantly talking to Verstappen about the gap between himself and his team-mate, whereas Perez was effectively “driving blind”.

The Briton noted that it was “very odd” for Red Bull to have been so quiet over the radio with Checo but in constant dialogue with Verstappen, something which perhaps impacted the Mexican’s hopes of victory.

“Really strange, listening to Perez’s radio,” said Davidson on Sky Sports F1.

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“They haven’t told him anything about this fight between himself and Max. Whereas on Verstappen’s side of the garage it has been constant. 

“We’ve heard it coming through from his engineer, that constant check on the relative race gap between himself and his teammate. 

“So Perez has been out there, in a way, driving blind. Very odd. It has been too quiet on his radio.” 

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Hamilton’s contract situation is a daily talking point currently, with the 38-year-old still yet to actually sign an extension with the Brackley-based team.

Some have reported that he’s waiting to see whether Mercedes can close the gap to Red Bull, whilst others have stated that it’s just a matter of time until a deal is done.

Based on Hamilton’s own words, the latter is seemingly the more believable, with him having labelled Mercedes as his “family” who he’ll be with until his “last days” in F1.

READ: Jeremy Clarkson claims his daughter ‘knows Charles Leclerc’s inside leg measurements’

Times newspaper correspondent Matthew Syed, though, has reported that there are “many Hamilton detractors” within the Silver Arrows who want to see the team’s bosses sign a young star to partner George Russell.

Russell has certainly performed exceptionally well since moving from Williams to Mercedes, despite the fact the Brackley-based team have been unable to offer him a consistent car.

He was responsible, of course, for Mercedes’ only win last season in Brazil, marking his incredible rise.

Russell also became just the third team-mate of Hamilton’s to beat him in the Drivers’ Championship, a feat which should not be taken lightly.

The 25-year-old actually responded to a comment by Hamilton interestingly ahead of this weekend, after the 103-time race winner revealed that the Mercedes duo made a “50-50” choice over what set-up they took, both of which were the complete opposite of one another.

Hamilton effectively put this set-up down as the reason why he was beaten comfortably by Russell at the recent round in Saudi Arabia; however, Russell has since stated that “luck” had nothing to do with his performance.

“I don’t think there’s any luck in it at all,” Russell said in Melbourne on Thursday.

“I think it’s down to the preparation you put in before the event.”

With that in mind, Syed wrote: “It is possible that Mercedes may end the relationship (with Hamilton) at the end of this season, given the expense of his contract.”

Ex-F1 driver Anthony Davidson is one of many who doesn’t see Hamilton leaving Mercedes anytime soon and has actually warned the Stevenage-born driver against going elsewhere, with a “knee-jerk reaction” not being the right choice.

READ: Aston Martin reveal why they didn’t want Sebastian Vettel to replace Lance Stroll

“I’d be very surprised if he joined another team,” Davidson is quoted by the Evening Standard.

“I’d be more surprised to see him change teams than walk away. But he says it with some conviction that he will carry on until he gets that eighth title.

“I’d say ‘don’t have a knee-jerk reaction like Fernando Alonso in the past’, which hasn’t worked out well for him until now,” Davidson added. “Just put faith in the team that they can turn it around.”

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Some of Alonso’s career moves have been very questionable, with the Spaniard having left Renault for McLaren in 2007, before suddenly returning to Renault in 2008 despite the fact they’d become a midfield team.

Alonso also famously left Ferrari at the end of 2014 in favour of a switch back to McLaren, who became a backmarker in 2015 following their partnership with Honda.

Hamilton, of course, is in the midst of a decision himself, given that his contract with Mercedes expires at the end of 2023.

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The Briton is reportedly waiting to see if the Germans improve or not before agreeing to a new deal, with a multi-year extension supposedly being in the pipeline.

Unlike Alonso, Hamilton doesn’t have a record of changing teams at odd times, in fact, Mercedes are just the second team that the 38-year-old has raced for in his entire F1 career.

Whilst he only joined Mercedes’ F1 outfit in 2013, he’s been linked to the Silver Arrows his whole life, something which has left Davidson unconvinced that Hamilton would consider a move away from the Germans.

“I’d be very surprised if he joined another team,” Davidson said, per the Evening Standard.

“He’s been with Mercedes since his karting days. He’d be getting to that age where he’d be thinking about an exit plan and what to do with the rest of his life. He could be a Mercedes ambassador for all time.

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“He mustn’t have a knee-jerk reaction like Alonso in the past, which hasn’t worked out well for him until now.

“Put it this way, I’d be more surprised to see him change teams than walk away. But he says it with some conviction that he will carry on until he gets that eighth title.

“The team’s given him so much and they won their eighth title. You’d have to say that, if anyone can turn it around, it’ll be Mercedes. I’d say don’t have a knee-jerk reaction like Fernando Alonso in the past, which hasn’t worked out well for him until now. Just put faith in the team that they can turn it around.”

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