by VALERIO BARRETTA
Mercedes “studies” in Melbourne
There Mercedes W15 is a step forward compared to its predecessors built in Brackley, but the results are still struggling to arrive, both because the competition is improving at the same rate and because the car still suffers in the fast sections. We saw it in Jeddah and we can see it even more in Melbourne.
For the Australian round, Mercedes has prepared a series of experiments to try to regain ground on a Red Bull that continues to dominate and also on a Ferrari that has grown more than any of the big names; plus there is the rebound problem, which has peremptorily returned to fashion in Jeddah, especially in qualifying. Track operations manager Andrew explains Mercedes' approach to Melbourne Shovlin.
Shovlin's words
“There is a lot of work going on in the aerodynamic department and vehicle dynamics. We are trying to design some experiments that we hope will give us a positive direction in terms of performance“, this is the comment of the Briton. “Even in qualifying we suffered a bit from the rebound. During the race the problem eased, but because with more fuel you go a little slower“.
Even in Jeddah, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell took different directions in terms of set-up. And the fact that both encountered the same problems suggests to Shovlin that the W15's problems are bigger than anyone might have believed: “When you change approaches, you can see the differences. Basically the limits we had in qualifying and in the race were essentially the same for both cars. This tells us that it is not a small difference, it is not a detail. There is something more fundamental that we need to delve into and understand“.
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