At the beginning of the 2024 season, fans believed it would be another year of Red Bull’s domination while other teams would be mere spectators. However, as the season has progressed, every team has showcased signs of significant improvement. While Red Bull appeared unbeatable, the chasing pack has finally caught up. All credit goes to the engineers and car designers, who worked full throttle to intensify the competition.
Moreover, teams like McLaren and Ferrari give a tough fight to the reigning world champions. With the F1 car development battle raring high, the RBR team looks vulnerable. Although the team enjoys a healthy lead in the leaderboard, the rivals are not much behind. Moreover, Mercedes has performed exceptionally well in recent races. From being unable to enter the top five to finishing at P3 & P4 in Canada, the team has taken a giant leap. Thus, the engineers at Milton Keynes are alarmed by the sudden upsurge and keep a close eye on Merecedes’ upgrades.
Red Bull Closely Monitoring Mercedes’ Front Wings Development
The recent front-wing upgrade could allegedly cause trouble for the Silver Arrows. The engineers from the Austrian outfit are closely observing every Mercedes upgrade. This is due to the team’s sudden improvement in recent times. Before the Canada GP, both Mercedes drivers failed to finish in the top five. However, the duo registered the season’s best outing on a tricky, rain-ridden Montreal circuit. Thus, every team is keeping an eye on Toto Wolff’s team, especially arch-rivals Red Bull. According to Formula1uno, the Milton Keynes-based outfit is examining the ‘new front wings’ under the supervision of Paul Monaghan. Moreover, the front-wing regulations by FI are stringent, leaving no space for an illegal move. Subsequently, when George Russell utilized the latest setup, it passed the FIA checkpoint and was deemed legal.
However, Red Bull is concerned over this move as it has suddenly made W15 one of the fastest cars on the grid. The Austrian team suspects that Mercedes has modified their front wings to pass FIA inspections but that these modifications behave differently during races. Thus, according to reports, RBR has filed an unofficial request to thoroughly inspect the Three-Pointed Star’s latest setup. Every team gets an opportunity to flex their wings during the race. While FIA has defined the limit, sometimes it breaches the threshold. Thus, if the investigation proves anything against the energy drink-based team, it might face severe consequences from the authorities.
This Is How the Silver Arrows Have Improved Its Pit Stop Timing
During the Canada GP, the team’s pit crew was faster than ever, managing Hamilton and Russell’s times by 2.2 and 2.4 seconds, respectively. Technical director James Allison outlined the work that led to Mercedes’ increased pit stop performance.
He highlighted that utilizing last year’s equipment would have made meeting the current pit stop times impossible, regardless of the crew’s training. Furthermore, the team realized their lack of competitiveness in pit stops last year and made major efforts to improve the car’s details. They concentrated on enhancing the wheel nuts and wheels to enable faster changes and a wider range of application failures by the gunmen.
