Mercedes is questioning its recent developments
F1. Since the resumption of the season after the summer break, Mercedes has still not stepped on the podium. An unexpected situation for a team that was racking up victories and raising many questions, especially regarding its recent improvements.
Did Mercedes miss the mark in the development of its W15? After three victories in the last four races before the summer break, the German team has still not been on the podium since, with much more mixed performances in Zandvoort and Monza. A new trend that Andrew Shovlin, director of track engineering at Mercedes, is struggling to understand, although he revealed that the latest updates introduced on the car meet expectations.
« Over the last three races, we have conducted various comparisons of the packages, mainly comparing the downforce, and we are confident that it generates the expected load. How do we know? We measure the forces generated on the track through the suspension. It is important to note that we were not expecting a very large gain, it was a quite small package, but we are convinced that it generates this load. » Wind tunnel data therefore seems to correlate with what the team observes on the track. However, the performance is less convincing since the championship's return and the reintroduction of the package that the team brought for the Grand Prix of Great Britain.
Zandvoort and Monza: difficult circuits for Mercedes
In the Netherlands, Mercedes had decided to reuse the new developments that had seemed to work in Great Britain, where Lewis Hamilton had won his first Grand Prix since 2022. However, other problems seem to have arisen, notably in terms of handling, affecting the car's behavior and tire management. In Zandvoort, Mercedes was unable to keep up with the pace of the other three top teams, with Hamilton only eighth after missing Q3 on Saturday, and Russell one place ahead of him, after lacking grip at the end of the race.
During the next round in Monza, the Mercedes seemed a bit more comfortable with fifth and seventh places at the finish, but they were never able to compete with Ferrari and McLaren during the race. For Shovlin, the considerable differences in characteristics on recent circuits make it difficult to truly understand the recent issues and to know if these issues were indeed introduced by the latest updates. The British engineer explained that numerous tests will take place at the Brackley factory to quickly determine the causes of the problems and find solutions, if possible before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a week. He is particularly concerned about the possibility that the updates may have introduced complications that the team had not foreseen in its analysis.
« It may simply be the normal variation from one circuit to another, but that is what we will be examining in the coming days. In addition to this, other updates are being prepared. There is a lot to take into account, but we now have a lot of data, and we will use the next few days to make the most of it. » Due to its recent results, Mercedes is now leading by over 100 points ahead of its main rival, Ferrari, with only eight races left in this championship. Nevertheless, this season has already brought its share of surprises, and if Mercedes manages to understand where all these problems are coming from, it could once again join the fight for victory.
