Ted Kravitz hails the ‘bit of magic’ that one Formula 1 team have come up with this season

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Sky Sports F1 technical expert Ted Kravitz has admitted that he’s been seriously impressed with the work Mercedes have done on their front wing over the winter break.

Pre-season testing has now begun and Toto Wolff has sent George Russell out to run the F1 W15 for the first time.

Speaking on Sky Sports in the pit lane, Kravitz took a closer look at one key area of their new car.

Kravitz impressed with Mercedes’s front wing

One of the most exciting parts of pre-season testing is examining the changes each team has made to their cars.

It’s very hard to read anything from the lap times each driver sets, with raw speed not the aim of the next few days.

Instead, teams will be carefully analysing thousands of data points to make sure they’ve gone in the right direction with their updates over the winter.

Red Bull have made some key changes to their car to stay ahead of the competition.

Given how dominant the RB19 was this does feel like a gamble, but it’s hard to believe Adrian Newey doesn’t know exactly what he’s doing.

However, Newey has taken a keen interest in Mercedes’s new front wing and Kravitz has shared some more information about a key part of their car.

The Silver Arrows need to find plenty of time in 2024 to close the gap to Red Bull.

They’ll be hoping this innovation does the job and allows Russell and Lewis Hamilton to challenge for race wins again.

Mercedes trying to close the gap on Red Bull in 2024

Speaking about the front wing, Kravitz said: “It is a genius move, so credit to John Owen the designer here who has come up with that bit of magic on the front wing.

“Hats off to their aero team. It’s such a lovely idea.

“Mercedes had they just stood still and developed what was an OK car, they got to the point where they could do some bits with it at the end of the year, then that would have been all right.

“But they had to find a second per lap, now that’s the big question for me, is this Mercedes a second per lap quicker than last year’s Mercedes?

“Well John Owen the designer will certainly hope so, the ideas with this front wing and trying to recreate the Y250 vortex, that’s the middle section, to try and get the air inside, through those front wheels.

“It’s a nice idea, is it going to work, are the rest of the things going to work as well? We will find out.”

Mercedes will hope that the ‘genius’ move Kravitz is talking about with their front wing gives them a key advantage over their rivals.

Romain Grosjean has admitted that he thinks Mercedes have the best-looking car on the grid.

Wolff will be hoping that the W15 doesn’t just look good on track, but is also quick enough to return to the top step of the podium.