It seems like an eternity has passed since the Mercedeson the occasion of the second round of pre-season tests in Bahrain, he presented himself with a decidedly revised W13 at sidepod. The design, designed in order to obtain considerable aerodynamic advantages, instead proved to be a sort of involuntary ‘sports suicide’ for the Anglo-German world champion house, which had not dealt with a problem that is still difficult to stem. : the porpoising.
Since then, in fact, both Hamilton and Russell have had to face the violent jolts of the car on the straight, such as to cause back and chest pain after Imola to the young English driver ex-Williams, who passed this year at Brackley court. With the exception of two podiums – a 3rd place each – Mercedes is therefore facing the most complex period in its history in the era of the power unit, with a constant crisis of solutions that, at least for now, do not seem to see the light: “I think the fundamental question, which overshadows everything, is that the our car seems to suffer from porpoising more than any otherand because of this we are unable to reach the levels that it deserves – has explained Toto WolffMercedes team principal – there are huge ramifications on the set-up, on the grip of the tires, and so on, and it’s all connected to each other. If we were to get to the point of solving porpoising, we would unlock a lot more in terms of the car’s performance. If we do not succeed, then we will face a more conventional development path, which we have not yet undertaken. Anyway, we want to give ourselves time before we really make such a decision“.
In addition to the impact in terms of competitiveness, Mercedes will also have to pay attention to the budget cap, i.e. a cost ceiling that must not be exceeded. In this regard, Wolff intends to continue the research and developments on the W13, without taking the wrong way as the abandonment of the project: “All of this has not yet affected the budget cap – he added – due to the fact that we have not changed the concept of the car. We still follow the project we have very well, but if we were to aim for something else, this could go against the cost ceiling“.
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