Mercedes doesn’t know how to prepare for Baku
After another mixed weekend for Mercedes, the world champion team will have to face a new challenge in Azerbaijan this weekend.

The weekend in Monaco for the world champion team was once again not really up to German expectations, with George Russell continuing his top 5 streak, and Lewis Hamilton struggling greatly with constant and extremely disruptive bottlenose dolphin behavior for the British driver.
The F1 is moving this weekend to the capital of Azerbaijan, in Baku, on a track very different from Monaco’s, with long straight lines, where speeds easily exceed 300 km/h. Vigilance is required on the slow corners of the circuit, especially the castle section, which is very unique.
A challenge of great magnitude for Mercedes, who will have to find the compromise between high-speed porpoising and managing the suspensions in slow corners.
Count on the VMax
Regarding this, the Track Engineering Director of Mercedes F1, Andrew Shovlin, is not certain about the next Grand Prix: (in) Baku could present similar challenges [to Monaco and Barcelona], we are working on several areas to try to improve the driving, trying to get the car to run a little closer to its optimal window.
But we are well aware that in addition to improving the basic performance of the car, we need to make it work on a wider range of circuits. So, these are all things we are preparing for in Baku, but also in the long term because there are other challenging tracks that will come up. All these projects are being worked on extensively because the team and the drivers greatly want to be back at the top of the grid.
With a struggling Mercedes engine this year compared to the Ferrari and Red Bull engines, it will be necessary to rely on an aerodynamic advantage to try to catch up with the top speeds of the two contenders for the constructor’s title. Until improvements are made, the Brackley team will have to survive in their No Man’s Land before being able to taste the joys of victory again.