Mercedes’ Struggles Continue: What’s Next for the Team?
Following a promising start in Bahrain, where Lewis Hamilton hailed the W15 as a “race car,” Mercedes faced a reality check in Saudi Arabia, with concerns mounting over their car’s performance. Despite efforts to bounce back, the team’s mood soured as they grappled with unexpected challenges.
Hamilton’s disappointment was palpable as he described feeling like he was “in a different category” during high-speed corners, while team principal Toto Wolff conceded that there were issues needing urgent attention, although the exact nature of these issues remained elusive.
According to insights from the BBC’s Benson, Mercedes’ struggles appear rooted in their inability to harness the ground-effect aerodynamics effectively, leaving them perplexed by the car’s lack of performance in high-speed corners. Despite extensive simulation data, the team finds themselves at a loss, with Wolff acknowledging a fundamental challenge that has persisted for over two years.
“Saudi Arabia suggested something else. Basically, a weakness of the car was exposed – it was dreadfully slow in the high-speed corners. And Mercedes did not understand why.”
“Team principal Toto Wolff admitted: “There is something which we don’t understand.”
“The bottom line is that something is happening with the Mercedes floor which the team cannot get their heads around.”
“They still simply don’t understand how to make a car work effectively with these new rules.”
With Mercedes currently trailing significantly in the Constructors’ Championship, Benson suggests that the team’s realistic target for the 2024 season is to secure the best-of-the-rest position, conceding that Red Bull’s dominance makes them unreachable in the title race. This places added pressure on drivers like Hamilton and George Russell to outperform rivals like Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
“Mercedes’ target will be to end the season as best of the rest – they already pretty much admit that Red Bull are uncatchable this year, certainly in terms of the championship,” said Benson.
“For Russell, that realistically means the best he can hope for is to finish third, behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. To do that, of course, he has to beat Lewis Hamilton – no easy task, despite the seven-time champion’s slow start to the season – and perhaps even more of a challenge is Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.”
As Mercedes prepares for the Melbourne Grand Prix, all eyes are on their ability to address the underlying issues that plagued them in Saudi Arabia.
The team’s dedication to resolving these challenges will be put to the test, as they aim to regain their competitive edge and salvage their championship aspirations in the face of formidable competition.
