Mercedes introduced a number of changes for last weekend’s 2022 British Grand Prix to build on the progress it made with the first development package it assembled in Spain.
Although the team still does not have the pace to fight Red Bull and Ferrari on equal terms, and clearly continues to struggle on the bumpy street circuits, there is a growing optimism within the Germans that has turned the setbacks they had.
Instead of Mercedes concentrating on eliminating the lack of speed that has handicapped its drivers at the start of the campaign, its mindset is shifting towards pure performance.
Mercedes engineering director Andrew Shovlin acknowledged this: “In the early races, we were literally fighting for survival, and the drivers had a car that was very difficult to drive.”
“However, we did a good job of scoring points and seizing opportunities when others were unreliable,” he continued. “Barcelona was useful for us because we didn’t have the rebound, as was the case at every circuit we went to, but it’s clear the last few races at three street circuits have revealed another weak spot and to be honest we’re looking into it.”
“We look for the problems, and then we’ll try to apply our engineering knowledge to solve them, but I would say that the path we want to go down is becoming clearer now. And that’s encouraging from a development standpoint,” Shovlin said. “This [Silverstone] update is the first in the line that we started creating in Barcelona.”
Although much of the attention on Mercedes’ development and progress has been focused on its sidepod-less concept, the team has been adamant that that design had little to do with the early-season problems.
Instead, the key factor has been the management of aerodynamic flow below and near the ground, which is why his vision was significantly modified at the Spanish Grand Prix, although the adjustments made were not so obvious.
“As for the concept of the car, we have changed a lot since the first time we competed,” he said. “It behaves very, very differently to when it first came out on the track, although if you look at it from afar it looks quite a bit like what we had in the first race aerodynamically, it’s a different beast now.”
Asked by Motorsport.com if he thought the team had a new concept since the W13 premiere, Shovlin said: “I think so, maybe in Barcelona we changed the design in terms of the way the car worked to try to solve some of the problems with rebounding.
“Although our problems in that area generated a lot of interest in the first races, because we were in the middle zone, if you look at us here [at Silverstone], I think we are really close to the front.
“We’re not the best, but we’re a long way from the worst. So I think we’ve made progress, and what we’re left with is a car that’s a bit stiffer than we’d like, but it’s definitely a car. with which we can start working,” he assured.
What seems to be the aim of Mercedes, and is something that all the teams are after, is the ability to produce the highest levels of downforce at the highest possible ride height. Right now, the W13 rides too close to the tarmac, and with too stiff a suspension for anything but a softer track surface.
Shovlin added: “From day one with these regulations, the challenge was always going to be generating downforce at high altitude. “.
