Mercedes had hoped the W15 would be the driving force behind its return to title contention in 2024, but early evidence suggests the car is not quite up to the standards set by Red Bull and Ferrari.
The Silver Arrows are by no means a slow car, but while they look to be in a close race with McLaren and Aston Martin in the top half, their early performance has so far not matched the team's ambitions for the car. With that in mind, we took a look at what some of the team's key figures have said about the car this season, to give us some insight into areas where it may have underperformed so far.
Based on early evidence, what are the areas that need to be addressed with the Mercedes W15?
high speed cornering
This is probably the main concern that has been highlighted with W15 so far.
In previous races, particularly in Jeddah, when Lewis Hamilton was battling Lando Norris, the time won by McLaren in the fast first sector was more than enough time for the seven-time world champion to race in a “different category”. It was like an analogy. he.
“So the car is good at low speeds, not too bad at medium speeds, but at high speeds it's miles away,” Hamilton explained to Sky Sports F1 after the checkered flag.
“They… it was like I was in a different category when I was speeding among other people and people around me.
“So it's certainly frustrating to be in pretty much the same position three years in a row. I know there are, but we definitely have to make some big changes.
“You know, we probably haven't made enough big changes. If you look at the three teams in front of us, they still have a different concept in some areas than our situation. We have, so we certainly have the performance to add.”
Stability
Linked to the car's problems in high-speed corners is a lack of rear-end stability for drivers, with both Hamilton and George Russell complaining about oversteer that makes it difficult to trust the car when needed. It withstood the snap.
“We have a fast car but we are on a knife's edge,” Wolff said after qualifying in Saudi Arabia. “The drivers are struggling to consistently shorten their laps.
“George was putting in some good laps and could have fought for a second row spot. Unfortunately he lost the back of the car.
“Lewis, on the other hand, wasn't getting the feedback he wanted from the car, which meant he couldn't go faster.”
downforce
As well as simply fitting a larger rear wing to add downforce to the W15, the W15 naturally lacks that front compared to faster rivals, with high-speed corners being the main area where the team loses out. Wolff freely admitted that it had become . .
“I think there's a bigger factor in the lack of high speed than just the rear wing. There's a lack of over-the-step downforce that you can get with a larger rear wing,” Wolff explained in Saudi Arabia.
“We tried it with Lewis but we are fast everywhere else so they have something we don't understand.
“We know that if you make the rear wing smaller you can make up for what you lose in the corners, but it’s only the high-speed types that are losing all their lap time.”
Finless Porpoise
For Mercedes fans whose hearts have sunk over flashbacks of the 2022 and the thumping W13, don't panic too much here.
Finless porpoises have been largely eradicated across the grid, but Mercedes said some bounce back has been made in the opening two races of 2024.
Teams will likely want to resolve it sooner rather than later, if not to the same extent.
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said at the team debriefing after Saudi Arabia: Now, in the race it wasn't that much of an issue, but the car had more fuel and was a little slower, but it seemed to settle down and wasn't that much of an issue. ”
Russell explained that the difference in pace between the car and the car in front goes beyond just the bounce of the car, telling reporters in Jeddah: Modern cars are very complex, and so are tires. I can't find an answer at this time. ”
Asked about his car bouncing in Bahrain, Hamilton believes the problem goes beyond Mercedes, telling media such as PlanetF1.com: [car] I think the ride height was good because it was on the bottom. ”
However, the problem worsened in Saudi Arabia, with Hamilton telling Sky F1 a week later:
“It's hard to explain, but there were some bounces in Bahrain, but nothing as intense as here.
“But the first sector is super fast and the large lateral loads and bounce offset the car quite a bit. If you imagine the car going up and down behind you, you're rewarded by shifting the balance forward. If you run it at 160, 170 miles per hour and correct it each time…
“Max” [Verstappen] It is flat through [turns] 6, 7, 8, the balance is just stable. And that's what we're aiming for. We have to fix that, this is the third year in a row. we have to get over it. ”
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Engine cooling problems plagued both cars and power unit customer Williams of Bahrain, but Mercedes appeared to have quickly overcome the problem by the time Saudi Arabia arrived.
Additionally, Hamilton and Russell have been praising the car since the off-season, with both drivers saying the W15's starting position is better than in the past two seasons.
When asked if he was depressed after the Bahrain Grand Prix, Russell told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets: So, at least for Lewis and me, we definitely have a much better car this year and I believe we can build on that.”
Hamilton was similarly enthusiastic after qualifying at Sakkhir, but that included the caveat that he needed to find more pace, explaining to media outlets such as PlanetF1.com: It's a really big improvement compared to last year. It's much more stable and more fun to drive, but as you can see, there's still work to be done. ”
While high-speed cornering was a weakness, low-speed performance is highlighted as the W15's strength, and adding faster cornering performance further strengthens the package.
“There are positive aspects,” Hamilton said in Jeddah. “The car is great at low speeds, but at high speeds you have to apply a lot of stress.
“If we can do that, I think we'll be in the fight, but there's still work to be done.”
Solutions are always being considered in the team's factory and the first step will be in Melbourne this weekend as the team gets back on track.
“There is definitely data that we are picking up from Jeddah,” Shovlin said.
“We are also looking at the data from the Bahrain race and the Bahrain test and will make plans for how we approach free practice in Melbourne.
“But it's not just based on what we did in Jeddah. There's a lot of work going on in the aerodynamics department, vehicle dynamics department. We're planning some experiments there and We hope that this will give us a good direction for our performance.”
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