Mercedes team concerned about its new floor
Seventh and eighth at the finish of the Dutch Grand Prix, the Mercedes team experienced a more difficult weekend than expected, which left the team wondering what to do. After initial tests, the new flat-bottom design introduced by the team seems to have reduced the car's performance.
A difficult return from vacation for Mercedes. After three weeks of summer break, the teams arrived at the Zandvoort circuit well prepared, especially Mercedes, which was the team in top form, having won three of the last four rounds of the championship thanks to several upgrades on the car. After successful free practice sessions in the Netherlands, with Russell in first position during the second free practice session, the team decided to trust its new floor by introducing it for the rest of the weekend. However, this did not have the expected effect.
Issues with the new floor
From Saturday, the car seemed very different depending on the drivers, with Russell complaining of a lack of grip during qualifying. In Q2, Hamilton could not do better than twelfth place, highlighting the team’s difficulties in Zandvoort. In the race, unfortunately, the trend did not reverse for the Brackley team, which crossed the finish line in seventh and eighth positions, more than 40 seconds behind the day’s winner, Lando Norris.
A disappointing result and a more unstable car at the wheel
A result that has inevitably raised some questions on the Mercedes side, especially regarding the new car design introduced this weekend. James Allison, the technical director of the German team, wanted to talk about the role of the new floor, explaining that it improved aerodynamic grip, but made the car more unstable and difficult to drive, especially in corners.
« The simple answer is that we don’t yet know completely. You can take simple measures and say that the support it was supposed to provide seems to be there. So, at some level, one could be reassured by saying that it worked as expected. But a large part of the cars’ performance this year, in particular, depends on their handling. For now, we know it generated support, but we are not sure it offered good balance. This is something we need to examine as the season progresses. »
Allison therefore believes that the new introduced package could ultimately cost more time per lap than it allows to gain due to a delicate balance of the car which greatly affects the performance and behavior of the single-seater, which does not seem to suit the drivers at all.
« So it’s not just a question of whether your aerodynamic package gives you downforce, but does it give you a balanced car in the corners? Does it give you a balanced car from high speeds to low speeds? » explained the Briton.
« For one reason or another, we managed to produce a car that was too unstable. It was too prone to losing balance at the back, to losing grip and no longer being in contact with the road when drivers tried to push it. And qualifying is the moment when they really have to push the car, and we could get a very good lap if they just manage to keep this very sharp car on track.
According to the initial analysis conducted by the team, the new floor would make the car more sensitive and harder to drive, which also makes it slower, as evidenced by the results of the last Grand Prix in the Netherlands, where both drivers were unable to keep up with the pace of the top three teams, especially towards the end of the race, even when Russell was on soft tires. According to Allison, the poor result in Zandvoort cannot however be entirely attributed to the weather conditions or the track.
« It will not be as simple as saying that the track is not suitable for the car. The success or failure of a weekend depends on a very large number of elements, and all of them must be almost perfect for the car to reach its true pace. This weekend in Zandvoort, with the weather conditions on Friday and the decisions we made overnight, we did not manage to find the necessary pace to get the most out of the car.
Mercedes will however have the opportunity to bounce back this weekend in Italy, a circuit that should better suit the car, even if the new tarmac could once again change the behavior of the tires, making it difficult for the German team. Monza could therefore be the turning point of the season for Mercedes, which still hopes to catch up with the 94 points that separate it from Ferrari, a gap that is likely to increase in case of another underperformance this weekend.
