After the worst start to the season for Mercedes in a long time due to the effects of porpoising , which forced them to run with the car at a higher altitude than desired, it seems that the German team is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The rebound effect prevented the Brackley team from working on performance until the problem could be resolved, as evidenced by the first five Formula 1 races in 2022, in which Lewis Hamilton and George Russell failed to make big strides. progress.
However, at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, for which Mercedes brought a number of upgrades to their W13, they seem to have taken the step forward they’ve been waiting for.
Since Friday practice, all the problems seemed to disappear and Mercedes director Toto Wolff confirmed that the team has resolved its main Achilles’ heel.
“Yeah, we get it now,” Wolff told Sky Sports after qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in which Russell finished fourth and Hamilton sixth.
“It’s an aerodynamic effect that is created from ground motion and it was hard to come up with a scientific solution. But the whole team of Mike Elliott (technical director) and Jarrod Murphy (chief aerodynamicist) pulled it off. And it’s great.” .
While Mercedes is still about six-tenths behind the big favourites, Ferrari and Red Bull, Wolff believes they can now start working on closing that gap.
The elimination of propoising will allow them to focus all their efforts on making the car faster and faster, instead of having to search for solutions with one hand tied behind their back.
“The other teams have been able to continue developing their car, while we have been more or less in a moment of pause to solve the rebound,” he explained.
“So as soon as we can get back to development and understand the tires better, now that we don’t struggle with the rebounds, I think we’ll catch up,” continued Wolff.
“I think we have taken a very solid step in Barcelona. We have tried to keep our expectations realistic at all times, and I think that where we are today is in some way the best position we could hope for.” of Mercedes .
