Mercedes continues to face the porpoising of the W13 that is holding back Lewis Hamilton and George Russell so much. The German manufacturer is convinced that if it can adapt the car so that it doesn’t bounce as much, that will trigger a speed increase in lap time.
Team boss Toto Wolff revealed earlier this week that work at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix had unlocked “several directions” that could help the team progress, as Mercedes prepared to bring some developments to Miami.
But speaking before the weekend, at a launch event for a new official Mercedes IWC watch, Toto Wolff played down expectations of an instant breakthrough.
Instead, he said the only way to progress and better understand it might be during testing held on Grand Prix weekends.
“I think we’re trying to find a solution that doesn’t just fix porpoising ,” the Mercedes team principal said.
“You can fix the ground and make it stiffer, but you lose downforce and at least make the car more stable, but that’s not the direction we’re going.
“Unfortunately, without testing, every race weekend is a little experiment for us. This is just like old times, trial and error.”
“So we’re looking at some directions that we think might help us solve the problem in the long run, without losing the benefits of downforce.”
“There will be tweaks to the car this weekend, where we think we can get some direction. But the performance of the car will not be unlocked from one weekend to the next.”
