Mercedes has made a lot of progress with its W13 in the final rounds before the summer break after a difficult start to the season. The last time they put all the power of the car on the track was in qualifying for the Hungarian GP, where George Russell managed to score pole position for a single day after scoring a double podium with Lewis Hamilton in second position after overtaking his co-worker.
It was a big step up from the Silver Arrows from the start of the course in which the two Britons were hurt by excessive porpoising that took months to fix.
One of the areas in which Mercedes had to work to combat the rebound effect has been in aerodynamics, where they have unloaded the car, something that seems to have had an effect and they are already close to the leaders.
The Brackley outfit have introduced a small package of improvements for the Spa-Francorchamps weekend, but George Russell admits he is not satisfied as he believes there is a risk of porpoising returning to the W13.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress in that regard,” he said. “But I think we also know that we’ve had to lose quite a bit of performance to get there.”
“Naturally, as we’re going to push the limits again, we’re under no illusions that the rebound will come,” the young Silver Arrows driver commented before taking to the track.
“This is a competitive sport and we accept that maybe we have to live with it, and that may be the best thing to do to get back earlier. So we’ll have to see it, but there’s no doubt that it also depends on the circuit,” explained Russell.
The improved floor of the #63 car reduces edge loading, which in turn improves airflow to the diffuser for increased aerodynamics. Mercedes is also using a modified endplate on the front wing to help direct flow over the tip of that section, which should improve the car’s performance.
The bottom of the W13 has been revised to benefit its operation in more variable conditions, in addition to reducing the load on the rear wing to increase the top speed, which is essential to set a good lap time on the always fast Spa- circuit. Francorchamps.
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