Porpoising is Mercedes’ first, great enemy. In the first part of the 2022 Formula 1 season, the W13s were very far from the standards offered by their ancestors, finding themselves spectators of the duel between Red Bull and Ferrari. After 4 races, the Brackley team decided to react in an important way.
This weekend the Miami Grand Prix will be staged, the fifth round of the World Championship, but it will be a very important race because Mercedes will bring targeted updates with the specific intent of reducing porposing. If that happens, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s W13s could be trimmed down and, on paper at least, come close to the performance the team saw in virtual simulations in the weeks leading up to the start of the season.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal, revealed that the work done after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola gave answers to the team. Now, however, it will be time to see if the data seen at Brackley will be close to that of the track or not.
“When we returned from Italy we learned a lot from that weekend and, in parallel, our learning continued between the wind tunnel and simulations,” he explained.
George Russell, Mercedes W13, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
“We have found several directions to improve the car and we will do experiments in Miami to see if there is any correlation with the simulations. We hope to confirm the development path for the next races.”
Although the team could end up in a whirlwind of panic due to a very different start to the season compared to the previous 8, the approach was still very calm, methodical, with the specific intent of solving the problems that arose since the pre-season tests of Sakhir, Bahrain.
“Both pilots worked on the simulator prior to Miami and the factory has been busy producing updates for upcoming races. The saying comes to mind: ‘Calm seas don’t make good sailors.’ This team has proven its resilience in the Over the course of many years and the difficult start to the 2022 season has ignited a fire within every member of the team. We are all determined to fix the situation, “concluded Wolff.
#Wolff #Find #solutions #improve #W13