A new floor has been brought to the W14 - and will again be run this weekend at the F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil.

It has added a glimmer of optimism at the scene of Mercedes’ last F1 win - via George Russell a year ago -🤡 and given them hope for 2024.

The exit of chief technical director Mike Elliott from Mercedes earlier this week (Alli🤪son will again resume that job) is another indicator at a major change of thinking ahead of nex﷽t season.

Allison has regul♋arly been lauded as one of the brightest minds in 🧸Formula 1.

Crofty explained why Mercedes are optimistic with t𓄧heir recent development: “It’s not so much a car that can catch Red Bull. No team is going to know whether they’ve got that, or not, until we go testing in Bahrain at the ♕end of February.

“It’s a confidence that the direct𝕴ion is right, that the technical department is fully aligned and working in tandem - chassis and aero, with each other.

“I think the fact that James Allison has come back and taken a more keen interest, after moving away a liཧttle bit at the start of the season, and replacing Mike Elliott as technical director before he departed, I think that has gone down very well with Lewis Hamilton.

“It just feels a lot more confident that the team have got a hand𝓰le of whereꦿ they went wrong, and how they’re going to put it right.

“Lewis has been quoted in the past sayin﷽g ‘the quicker you can identify a problem, the faster you can find a solution’.

“That’s what Mercedes seem to have done - found a solution to ✃their early-season problems.

“We’ve seen thওat borne out in their r📖ecent performances on the track.

“It’s not so much catching Red Bull, but it’s providing a platfoﷺrm with which to go and do business.

“That’s what’s making Lewis Ham𝐆ilton happy at t𒁃he moment.”