The German team has struggled since the start of the season and is struggling to outrun the ‘gremlins’ (small flaws) of the W13 that prevent it from unleashing the full potential it believes the car has.
They have indeed put off any major updates to their car until they fully understand what’s behind their problems, but that hasn’t stopped them from introducing some small developments for this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
With the car suffering from a lot of porpoising , Mercedes is trying to hone in on the triggers for the phenomenon and the airflow separations that can cause the problematic stop as the car approaches the ground.
Several of the Mercedes tweaks featured at Imola focus on that airflow separation factor.
As seen above, it has sharpened the profile of the top cover of the side impact beams and its mirror housing.
Detail of the Mercedes W13
The team stated: “These geometry changes have been introduced to remove small areas of separate airflow and by doing so we improve airflow at the rear of the car.”
Mercedes also reduced the camber of the flat bottom ahead of the rear tire to help “eliminate a small area of airflow separation and improve flow into the diffuser, resulting in increased rear downforce.”
In addition, there is also a revision to the lower spoiler endplate that helps generate “greater local loading on the lower spoiler at the rear wheels, which in turn increases the overall loading of the diffuser.”
Following some cooling issues that affected Lewis Hamilton in particular at the Australian Grand Prix , Mercedes have also added a third chassis side turning vane ahead of the pontoon entry (can be seen below).
Mercedes W13 side detail
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
They explained it this way: “These vanes improve the quality of airflow in the sidepod radiator duct and therefore improve the overall cooling of the car.”
Red Bull makes small changes to its car for the 2022 Emilia Romagna GP
Red Bull has also made some minor modifications to its car in a bid to improve its performance.
It has added a narrow-span secondary fin on the bottom keel, which is similar to the designs of some of its rivals, to help improve downforce generation in that area of the car.
The team has also introduced extra cooling to the rear brakes as they have suffered from some overheating problems in the first couple of races.
Changes to the inlet and outlet ducts will generate more mass airflow for better cooling of brake materials and calipers.
No changes to Ferrari’s car for the 2022 Emilia Romagna GP
Although Mercedes and Red Bull have made some changes for this weekend, Ferrari has chosen not to make any changes to its car.
Team Principal Mattia Binotto explained after the Australian GP that the compressed format at Imola, due to the sprint race, meant that there was not enough time to assess updates and prepare for the event as there is only one session free practice on the Friday before qualifying.
