F1 | Mercedes still looking for answers on tyre temperature factor

Mercedes believes it still needs time to resolve the tyre temperature issues that are impacting its Formula 1 performance.

This year, the German manufacturer has noticed a trend whereby its W15 shines in cooler conditions but struggles more than its rivals when temperatures rise.

The team suspects this is a result of the car generating more heat in the rear tyres, which is good for getting them into the right operating window in cold weather, but has difficult consequences if they overheat on sunny days.

Mercedes believes that finding a solution to the problem is not simple and that several development phases may be necessary before a definitive solution is found.

Head of race engineering Andrew Shovlin said: “I think at circuits like Silverstone we had a very stable rear end. In Austria and Budapest we lacked stability. That’s because we seem to put more heat into the tyres than the others.”

“We know we need to work on this. We plan to do so, but it’s not something that can be solved with just one aerodynamic update. It will be the result of a series of developments to try to solve the problem.”

One theory that has emerged about tire temperatures is that it could simply be a result of the lack of overall load, causing more slippage than other cars.

But Shovlin isn’t convinced that this is what affects the W15’s characteristics.

“If you look at Silverstone, in terms of the downforce on our car, it can’t be much different to McLaren or Red Bull, because otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to get away in the first stint,” he said. “So we don’t think that’s the main cause of the problem.”

“If you look at the current situation of the cars, they all converge on a quite narrow window in terms of the level of aerodynamic drag and the intrinsic downforce that comes from that. So I think we are there, or more or less, in that sense.”

“Obviously this is one of the key areas of development that we will continue to follow. But it is a rear tyre temperature issue, and that is what we will focus on.”

Asked whether it was more of a mechanical issue than an aerodynamic one, Shovlin added: “It’s just a car management issue.”

“You may need mechanical tools to help you change the way you handle the car. However, you can achieve the same result by acting on the aerodynamic characteristics throughout the speed range and in the corners.”

“We don’t know all the aspects of what might be different in our car compared to our rivals, but all we need are the development directions that will improve the car. We will continue to work on this problem until we get where we want to be.”