Mercedes’ ditched their ill-fated zeropod concept coming into the 2024 F1 season, hoping for a major turnaround. However, the issues were far more rooted than a concept change could fix. To further add to the misery, the W15 performed even worse than its predecessors, leading to the team’s frustration and disappointment.
Tema principal Toto Wolff earlier suggested fundamental flaws in the 2024 season challenger. However, turns out Mercedes has once again hit correlation issues with the factory data not aligning with on-track performance. Addressing the same issue, Wolff admitted major flaws in sim tools back at the Brackley factory.
Toto Wolff Has No Answers To Mercedes’ Persisting Correlation Issues Since 2022!
When Mercedes switched to the zeropod concept in 2022, many deemed it a revolutionary change. However, the aggressive step turned out to be the team’s lack of understanding of new ground effect regulation. As a result, the German manufacturers witnessed a low and haven’t been able to recover since then. One of the major things hindering their growth was the correlation issues. Apparently, the Silver Arrows simulation data did not match their on-track performance. And this issue has been a consistent snag for the team since 2022. Moreover, coming into 2024, the Brackley-based team is yet to find a solution. In a recent interview during the Japanese Grand Prix, team principal Toto Wolff expressed concern over correlation issues.
He said the simulation tools back in the Brackley factory are crooked. The downforce they were able to generate in virtual reality failed to translate into the real world, which has been adding to the team’s frustration. “That’s something that we have been struggling with since those regulations came in 2022,” said Wolff. The team principal further added that Mercedes was lagging behind on the stopwatch. But he believes the team has the package required to contest for a podium finish. That being said, discrepancies in simulation data are not a new phenomenon in F1. However, drastic differences is when the team needs to jump the gun and find solutions. That’s exactly what the Silver Arrows have been trying so far. But overall, until Toto Wolff shows the green flag to their first upgrade package, the fans mustn’t expect better results than what they have already witnessed.
Toto Wolff Revises Schedule To Attend Suzuka GP In Time Of Crisis!
Team principal Toto Wolff admitted Mercedes was in a state of crisis as he switched his plans to skip the Japanese Grand Prix at the last minute. As per the pre-season schedule, Wolff wanted to stay back in Europe to help the team with other things. However, with the Silver Arrows struggling to stay competitive, Wolff boarded the flight to Japan to be with the team.
“I felt not coming to Japan was the wrong choice,” said Toto Wolff. The team principal also confirmed that Mercedes would be conducting some experiments with the setups. The upgrade package is still nowhere to be found, as the Silver Arrows need more data to figure out the best-fit package.
Follow Sports News International for more news and updates about Red Bull and your favorite F1 team.
