Five third places: this is the meager booty of the Mercedes in the first nine races of the 2022 season, the first marked by the debut of the era marked by the return of the ground effect. Brackley’s team in the turbo-hybrid era have won 15 of the 16 world titles up for grabs, but in this championship they seem to have returned to the pre-2014 era when Red Bull dominated with Ferrari and Fernando Alonso as main rivals.
Max Verstappen currently leads the standings ahead of Sergio Perez’s other Red Bull, with Charles Leclerc who after a sprint start finds himself having to recover 49 points behind also due to some very heavy technical knockouts in Spain and Azerbaijan while he was in the lead of the race. The Mercedes W13 from the point of view of reliability is excellent, only in Barcelona Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had to slow down in the final race due to cooling problems that jeopardized the arrival at the finish line of the two drivers of the Star’s home. three tips. The Ferrari F1-75 and the RB18, however, in terms of performance are superior to Mercedes both in Qualifying and in the Race, as evidenced by the results recorded so far in this 2022.
Damon Hill explained his opinion about the Mercedes flop on the occasion of the entry into force of the new technical regulation: “When there are such radical changes, you have to have an open mind. Difficult when you come from years of success “his words expressed in an interview granted to The Gazzetta dello Sport. According to Hill, only one factor always lurking at Silverstone could allow the public to acclaim a home rider on the top step of the podium: “The rain, only here in early July you have to put on a jacket. Even if Mercedes is strong, they have residual chances of winning ”.
With regard to Hill’s words and the open-mindedness certainly shown by Ferrari and Red Bull, the FIA anti-porpoising technical directive, which will come into force starting from the French Grand Prix, is set to hold ground in the coming days. Lifting the cars off the ground and stiffening the flat bottom could be obligations that will affect the F1-75 and RB18 more than the competition.
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