Team Mercedes is keen to get back on top of the Formula One arena after struggling for almost two years with their W14 car. Last year especially has been disastrous for the former champions as they managed to win only one race. George Russell making his debut with the team, won his maiden Grand Prix in Sao Paolo, Brazil. However, the F1 great Lewis Hamilton went through a winless season for the first time in his career. And the reason behind the poor season was simply the W13 car last season.
However, the new revamped W14 car has been showing improvements since the team introduced upgrades in Monaco. After the Monaco Grand Prix, Mercedes secured three podiums in the next couple of races in Spain and in Canada. Lewis Hamilton got his second and third podium of the season there, respectively. Moreover, the team is looking to do better in the Austrian Grand Prix next weekend. However, team Mercedes is struggling to solve the problem around the slow-speed corners. That’s where the Brackley team is falling behind their rivals Red Bull and even Aston Martin in Canada.
James Allison Feels Mercedes W14 Is Still Struggling At Slow-Speed Corners
In his progress report on the Mercedes W14, Technical Director for Mercedes, James Allison, revealed some important aspects as to why they are not able to perform as expected. As he said, “The car is far from complete, and it will take a while to catch up to the dominance of their rivals.” Earlier in the cooldown room after the Canadian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton told Max Verstappen that they suck at slow-speed corners. Allison also agreed with the Briton that they do have a problem in those corners. Additionally, in a recent interview, he accepted that according to their expectations, the upgrades had worked well. Although the car’s performance improved in the medium-fast and the fast corners, and not in the slow corners yet.
Hence Allison acknowledged that “Until we improve in all corners, we won’t be competitive.” He feels the Monaco upgrade is history for them, and it is better to think about what lies ahead. In that direction, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has ordered new upgrades for the next four races before the summer break. James Allison believes that it is essential to make the team competitive and the Monaco package laid the foundation for the team’s next steps.
James Allison Addresses Lewis Hamilton’s Issue With Seat Position
James Allison also addressed Lewis Hamilton’s issue with the seat position. The Mercedes technical director explained that the problem won’t get solved by just changing the cockpit position. He feels that it is not a big factor, as Hamilton sat even further forward in many races before. Although James agrees with Lewis about the car’s road holding. The Brackley team must eliminate that issue as soon as possible because that will determine the lap time.
The W13 car could not handle the porpoising issues well, and drivers suffered due to a tremendous bouncing problem. However, the Brackley team worked well on the porpoising issue. And in the new season with the new W14 car, there has been a good reduction in bouncing. However, the team’s fortune did not change as they have not won a race yet in the current season. For Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton finished twice at P2 this year, but still, no GP win yet.
