Mercedes has been having some really bad days recently. It is weird to think about the scenario in F1 Motorsport just three years ago. Which team was dominating the grid? It was none other than the Silver Arrows. In the previous era of the turbo-hybrid engines, not one constructor title was won by a non-Mercedes team. Moreover, since 2010, only Red Bull and the German outfit have dominated the sport. The domination of Toto Wolff’s team lasted from 2014 to 2021. On the other hand, Ferrari has not won a constructor title for a long time. But currently, Red Bull is absolutely magnificent in terms of its performance.
Since the cost cap era started in 2022, Mercedes has managed to win a solitary race in the Brazilian Grand Prix. However, since 2023, the Silver Arrows have been winless. In 2024, they had a really bad start to the F1 season. Clearly, they don’t have the car to beat Max Verstappen and Red Bull. However, Mercedes might try to beat Ferrari and McLaren, who have performed better than them in the first four races of the 2024 season. Lately, Mercedes has been under scrutiny for their tire strategy. But they said it is the least of their worrying.
Why Is Mercedes Tire Strategy The Least Of Their Worries?
Recently, former F1 driver Mark Webber mentioned in an interview with Channel 4 that the tire strategy was the least of Mercedes’ concerns. Moreover, Webber mentioned that Toto Wolff’s team rolled the dice as they restarted on the hards for making a one-stop work. However, it was “Too optimistic” as Mercedes failed. Then, there was the track position, and the Mercedes duo – George Russell and Lewis Hamilton put the mediums on, in the end of the race at Suzuka. As a result, the duo converted it to a two-stop there, said Webber.
Moreover, the former F1 racer mentioned that the duo really tried to go all in with the two cars. But they went off the line with those hard tires. The Aussie expert clearly said that the Brackley team does not have the speed at the moment. At the end of the day, a team needs a quick car because, without it, no strategies would work. Even Lewis Hamilton mentioned that he is not sure what he would have fought gained with an alternate tire strategy. He said, “I don’t what the different strategy would have been.”
Red Bull And Mercedes Did Not Think Too Much About Tire Strategy In Japan
Lewis Hamilton mentioned that it did not matter if they started with the medium tires. Moreover, the Mercedes superstar believes there were a couple of terrible hard tires that he and his teammate had to run through at the Suzuka track. Hence, it was a real challenge for the Mercedes team to work with their car in Japan. On the other hand, Christian Horner mentioned that tire strategy was not very important for the Suzuka circuit.
After the Japanese GP, the Red Bull boss mentioned, “I just don’t think there was much in for the tires.” Horner added that the Suzuka track was getting warmer that day, which resulted in the cars having a different operating window. Finally, the Red Bull team principal mentioned that the track just gets quicker throughout the race.
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