Mercedes entered the 2024 F1 season with the hopes of chasing the invincible Red Bull Racing. However, the W15 performance was similar to its predecessors which put the team on the backfoot early into the brand new season. And ahead of Australian GP, things inside the garage aren’t looking promising.
As it stands, Mercedes are unable to figure out the root cause of the undesired performance issue. While Lewis Hamilton suggested some big changes after a detailed review of his performance, the Silver Arrows continue to deal with fundamental issues, which could be a roadblock in their quest to come back to Australia.
Mercedes Clueless About W15’s Fundamental Issues
Ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Mercedes is still struggling to extract the desired pace from W15. In Bahrain and Jeddah, the team lost 3-4 tenths in high-speed corners, and the overall lack of rear stability added to the drivers’ woes, especially Lewis Hamilton‘s. After attaining P9 for the second consecutive time, Hamilton suggested perhaps Silver Arrows should ring in bold and big changes. He said the foundation of W15 is encouraging, and the team can build a competitive car with timely upgrades. However, the Brackley-based team is unlikely to make any changes for the Australian Grand Prix as they are still struggling to find issues and solutions for the same. Andrew Shovlin, head of trackside engineering, said W15 is fundamentally flawed.
Interestingly, even after two rounds into the 2024 F1 season, Mercedes are clueless about the root cause of the fundamental issues. Shovlin admitted that the engineers are gathering data from the Bahrain and Jeddah race results. Once the plan is mapped, the team will figure out the right approach for a free practice test in Melbourne. “We’re trying to design some experiments there that will hopefully give us a direction that’s good for performance,” said Shovlin. Overall, as the Australian Grand Prix approaches, all eyes will be on Silver Arrows as they look to address their fundamental issues and mount a credible challenge for victory. With Lewis Hamilton eyeing a fairytale finish in his final year, the Brackley, the Silver Arrows aims to produce a competitive car good enough to at least compete with Ferrari and McLaren, if not the flying Red Bulls.
Silver Arrows To Delay Upgrade Packages After Dull Start
Mercedes haven’t necessarily had a dream start to this 2024 F1 season. The team barely made points in the first two rounds, and ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, the odds of a bounce back seem bleak. As per Formula Uno, the Silver Arrows supposedly planned to introduce an upgrade package in the Australia GP. However, the plans are postponed at the last minute.
While the actual reasons are unknown, it is believed that Mercedes intends to put W15 to more tests to gather clear data about the machinery’s strengths and weaknesses. Having said that, the upgrades are delayed and not shelved. As and when the team feels confident, timely upgrade packages will be introduced.
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