The reigning constructors’ champion introduced a number of upgrades to his W13 in Barcelona that have improved its pace, and helped George Russell go toe-to-toe with Red Bull before claiming a podium finish.
But while Brackley is relieved and encouraged to have started to discover the potential they thought they had in their 2022 car, they also think the Monaco Grand Prix could give them more trouble than expected.
Team boss Toto Wolff , when asked if there was any degree of optimism about the chances of another good result in Monaco, said: “I wouldn’t say to that, because we’ve been particularly off the pace this weekend. in the slow corners of the last sector, due to overheating”.
“That might be different in Monaco, but Monaco in the past has not been our best circuit. Maybe because the car was the size of an elephant.
“But I’m curious to see where we are this weekend. It’s still a bit hard for us to warm up the tyres, so my expectations for Monaco are lower than any other circuit.”
“I’m not sure I can scientifically explain why that is. But it’s going to be another learning point, at least to get us back in the game.”
Mercedes’ skepticism about its chances for Monaco has been heightened by the fact that it was not particularly competitive in the final sector of the Barcelona circuit last weekend.
Performance through the third sector of the Circuit has often proven to be a good indicator of potential for the streets of Monte Carlo, because the nature of the slow/medium speed corners and traction zones are very similar.
If we order the cars by their fastest time in the third sector during qualifying for the 2022 Spanish GP, Mercedes could only be fifth fastest.
1. Ferrari: 27.336 s
2. Red Bull: 27.411 s
3. Alfa Romeo: 27.443 s
4. Haas: 27.561 s
5. Mercedes: 27.698 s
6. McLaren: 27.768 s
7. Alpine: 27.896 s
8. AlphaTauri: 27.984 s
9. Aston Martin: 28.197 s
10. Williams: 28.586 s
However, one factor to take into account is that the Mercedes did not seem to be using their tires as consistently throughout the lap, so peak performance had dropped by the time they reached the final technical corners.
Mercedes porpoising problems are still present
Although the performance during the Spanish GP was a hope for Mercedes, the team is under no illusions that they have solved all their problems.
James Vowles , the team’s director of strategy, said that although porpoising had been eradicated in Spain, the threat of it reappearing in future scenarios could not be ruled out.
“We have to temper our expectations,” he said during the usual Mercedes briefing video after the race. “It is a circuit and a track that has adapted to our car for many years before this one. We still have a lot to understand and learn.”
“I think it would be a mistake to say that the problem of porpoising has disappeared. I think that it is still seen in our rivals and I am sure that there will be elements that will come up again as we build on what we have understood and the foundations that we established in Spain”.
“What I can say is that we have taken a step forward, a step in our understanding and deployment of what we put on the track. And now we can build on that, and we couldn’t say the same for the first five races with the car we had.
