Mercedes plans new improvements for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
Mercedes reveals its plans for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, as the team seeks to improve its consistency on track to maximize the impact of its updates.
Mercedes is preparing to bring crucial updates to the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix this weekend. The team, aware of the need to improve its consistency throughout a race weekend, aims to fully capitalize on its innovations.
The first half of a new package was deployed during the last race in Miami, while the second half will make its debut in Imola. Andrew Shovlin, Engineering Director, confirmed in the post-race debrief video from Mercedes that the parts met expectations at the Miami International Autodrome.
However, he also acknowledged that the pace of development by competitors and persistent issues with their own car could slow down the team’s progress. “Everybody is developing their cars,” Shovlin said. “McLaren has introduced a big package and seems to have made progress. In addition, the behavioral issues faced by the drivers make it difficult to see this progress as a linear advancement.”
Maneuverability and performance
The lack of coherence remains a major obstacle for Mercedes. What we observe is that the car can behave quite differently from one session to another, explained Shovlin. As long as we have not solved this problem, we will always limit the advantage we can gain from these updates.
The team is therefore focusing on two fronts: improving the car’s handling and bringing performance developments. “We have a clear idea of what we need to do to make it easier to drive,” said Shovlin. “And we have a series of planned updates for the next three or four races.”
Regarding the upcoming circuits, Shovlin sees potential opportunities for Mercedes. Monaco and Montreal are mainly made up of low-speed corners, while Barcelona is an extremely fast circuit, he analyzed. These are varied configurations that will challenge us. We do not expect to suddenly be extremely fast in Monaco, but these tracks can expose our weaknesses a little less.
The key to success for Mercedes lies in its ability to combine updates and consistency. “This is what we are working on,” concluded Shovlin. “And then, on the track, we will simply try to optimize what we have as best as we can to score as many points as possible.”
