Mercedes arrives at the Hungaroring full of energy: the two victories in Austria and Great Britain, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton respectively, have recharged the batteries of the Brackley team which, since the Canadian GP, has indisputably been the team that has scored the most points in the last four world championship events.
We are not faced with a coincidence, but indisputably a change of trend given that the W15s have collected 125 points, doing better than McLaren (111 points), Red Bull (97 points) and Ferrari (50 points).
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1, on the podium at Silverstone
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
James Allison’s treatment is bearing fruit: the technical director has understood how to intervene on the black-silver arrow and, as if by magic, a single-seater that was not competitive because it was difficult to balance, has actually turned out to be a winner.
Are we at a turning point in the championship? Toto Wolff is prepared: “We have continued to make progress with the W15 in recent races. This has led to victories in Austria and Silverstone. However, we know that we do not yet have a car capable of fighting for victory in every GP. The team is working hard to hope to achieve this. The efforts will continue in the next two races until the summer break”.
But the team principal underlines the characteristics of the Hungarian track… “The Hungaroring has a different character to the two previous circuits. Unlike Silverstone, it has numerous narrow and twisty sections, with only one significant straight. However, it also contains some high-speed corners and will therefore be a good test of the growth we have made in cornering. We hope to maintain this positive trajectory and conclude this first half of the season in the most positive way possible”.
Detail of the third element of the front suspension of the Mercedes W15
Picture of: George Piola
Mercedes has turned a corner since the W15 was modified in the front suspension. Instead of continuing to modify the floor to reduce the negative effects of the car’s high-speed bounce, Allison decided to stabilize the car with a third, larger element, obtaining greater damping of the stresses due to the greater surface area available. It was a brave choice because in F1 the increase in weight and a loss of aerodynamic efficiency caused by the bulge on the upper part of the chassis are aspects abhorred in the Circus.
Mercedes W15: here is the curvature on the body that appeared from Austria
Picture of: George Piola
The performance delta that emerged from the adoption of this solution was all too evident, enough to overcome any doubt. The results speak for themselves. Now Mercedes is waiting for confirmation also from a track like the Hungarian one that brings out different characteristics from Silverstone. The W15 has become a consistent car: the Hungaroring will have the task of saying if, like the McLaren MCL38, it has become a “universal” machine…
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