Mercedes, who entered summer break with three wins in four races, slumped in Zandvoort and Monza with significant loss of lap times. The short surge proved to be a false hope as both drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell reported problems with the car pace and overall balance.
Notably, Mercedes introduced a floor upgrade during the Belgian Grand Prix to enhance the pace and performance of the car. However, the upgrade backfired and had to be removed mid-weekend. And as per multiple reports, the Silver Arrows have made a big and bold call on the floor usage for the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Mercedes To Fall Back To Spa Specs In Baku!
Mercedes’ team of engineers is struggling to determine if the new floor upgrade is actually an upgrade or a downgrade. The new floor was first attached in Spa. However, following underwhelming practice sessions, the team scrapped the upgrade for the rest of the weekend and achieved a double podium 1-2 finish before George Russell’s disqualification. Later, at the Dutch Grand Prix, the team ran the floor again and surprisingly derived mixed results. Hence, in Monza, only George Russell ran with the new floor and noticed a competitive pace, whereas Lewis Hamilton wandered in mid-field without the upgraded material. Amid mixed results, Motorsport.com has learned that the Silver Arrows has decided to scrap the floor upgrade completely for the entire Baku weekend.
Mercedes has essentially decided to revert back to Spa GP specs with a few modifications to a diffuser, beam wing, front wing, and halo. The move is expected to provide data on how the car performs with the old specs and also to determine if the floor was the problem all along. Notably, Lewis Hamilton earlier suspected that the upgrade perhaps led to the fall in pace of W15. “It could be track-dependent, it could be the upgrade. My gut is telling me it could be the upgrade, but it’s hard to see the difference between the two,” Hamilton said. On the other hand, George Russell opined that the floor upgrade wasn’t a substantial improvement. And instead, it dropped the performance of the car altogether. Hence, he urged the engineers to look at it objectively and find a solution as time is running out. “Maybe Hamilton’s gut feeling is correct,” Russell said.
Lewis Hamilton Goes P2 In Baku FP1 Session
Mercedes’ decision to revert back the floor upgrade might have delivered positive data following the FP1 session of Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton finished P2 behind Max Verstappen and both him and George Russell had good pace throughout the session that saw two red flags.
That being said, the qualifying session will be the game-changer for Mercedes. That’s an area where Lewis Hamilton specially has lacked all season long. But with the problematic floor upgrade gone, perhaps both drivers could finish in top 10 if not in the front row. Overall, Baku Grand Prix promises to be a golden opportunity for Mercedes to regain pace and competitiveness.
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