Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team has had a terrible start to the 20223 season. They made a series of mistakes during the winter break, which resulted in a disaster on the track. For instance, the Silver Arrows sabotaged themselves by sticking to the previous season’s car design and concept. The verdict was out as early as the initial test run in Bahrain, and the team knew they had some grueling work to do.
Hence, over the past many weeks, Mercedes has been working on a huge upgrade that will be introduced in the upcoming Imola Grand Prix. The upgrade will likely enhance the performance of the car significantly and help the team reduce the gap to the flying Red Bulls to some extent. Meanwhile, the Silver Arrows’ engineering director and British driver, George Russell, has shared some inside details on the highly anticipated upgrade package.
Mercedes To Curb W14’s Designing Concept Flaws With The New Upgrades
The Silver Arrows fans are on edge ahead of the upcoming race weekend as the team has promised to announce a major upgrade package. As per initial reports, Mercedes will replace the car’s front suspension and tweak the sidepod concept to provide much more floor stability and make the machinery much more predictable. The team’s trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin, has shared some details and said the updates would most likely enhance the speed of the car. However, the idea behind the upgrades is much more than just pace. They want to car to have some stability and be predictable enough for the drivers to drive it around knowing what to expect.
George Russell, Mercedes young British driver, also shared his thoughts and said the upgrades would not benefit the pace on an immediate basis. It’s the first step into something bigger, and the overall efficiency of the updates will reflect over the course of time. For now, it’s just a step in the right direction, and this upgrade is the first of many. The team will assess the situation after implementing the upgrades and figure out the next course of action accordingly. Regardless, the entire paddock is confident that the upgrade package will have a positive impact on the car’s performance as they prepare for the Imola GP.
Silver Arrows Engineer Reveals Why It Took So Long For The Team To Introduce Upgrades
Mercedes knew their car was flawed right after the initial test run in Bahrain. Yet it took them close to three months to fix it. And we still don’t know if the upgrades will actually fix or wreck the car. In the meantime, Silver Arrows engineering director Andrew Shovlin revealed why it took them so long to bring in updates. He said the team contemplated a few possible upgrade ideas after the Bahrain Grand Prix after accessing the aerodynamics of the car.
Andrew added that it takes a lot of time to develop the wind tunnel. Things like this don’t happen overnight in the garage. It takes a whole army of engineers to stick to a plan and work on it day and night. Moreover, Mercedes wanted to be sure of what they brought to the table. They cannot afford any more setbacks from now. Hence, the engineer signed off by saying that the upcoming upgrade package is just step 1, and the backend team will continue working behind the scenes.