During the Principality weekend, Mercedes was the first team to unveil the new technical direction undertaken during this season, definitively abandoning the zeropods project, which never provided the desired results. A work that led the engineers to follow the path already dictated by Aston Martin, Alpine and McLaren, with an accentuated excavation inside the sloping sides.
Judging the upgrades in Monaco is notoriously difficult given the unique track layout, low average speed and bumpy surface, with Mercedes eventually managing fourth and fifth places. Waiting for the German team is the challenge of Barcelona, a circuit which notoriously represents a good testing ground for evaluating the aerodynamic qualities of the single-seater.
The team will therefore be able to have a much more detailed picture of the performance of the new components, even if Hamilton explained that already in Monte Carlo he could feel some small differences compared to the past: “Well, it’s not the step forward we hoped for. The real step forward we hope for is, for example, a delta of one second in race set-up. We haven’t covered it with this step, but it’s a step in the right direction,” explained the seven-time world champion during interviews on the eve of the Spanish round.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG
Photo by: Erik Junius
“Last weekend I felt more confident in the car, more able to push through the corners. I hope it’s the same on this track, but I hope it’s better. There are many medium and high speed corners. Perhaps in following, we can follow more closely. We have worked hard and we hope to be on the right track”.
As for the seemingly limited impact of Mercedes’ changes to the W14, clearly when compared to Red Bull, Hamilton explained that “the important thing is to move forward” and start a new path.
“When you start a race, as long as you keep your place or progress, I feel like I’ve had a decent day. You never want to go backwards. So when you make improvements, it’s natural that you should progress and the fact is that it’s an improvement, but it’s not the improvement we had dreamed of. But it’s one step at a time.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
“Part of it is because I realize how much work has gone into making these components. The rush that has been there, the amount of work, everyone is extremely motivated and hungry to progress the car in the right direction. So, I would say that I’m just confident we’ve put us on a better track to be able to progress from here on out,” explained the Briton.
The updates will not be able to radically change some areas and characteristics of the car, such as the fact that the driver is seated too far forward. To solve this aspect, more in-depth work and a greater budget will be needed, changes that clearly cannot be included in the program during the season. While waiting, however, we will try to intervene on small details to stabilize the rear: “There’s nothing we can do. It’s just the way it is. The things you can do are just try to change the rotation and try to stabilize the rear end. It’s something you try to do with mechanical balancing, but the tools you have are limited. They are the same as last year”.
However, Hamilton also wanted to underline some positive elements, such as the new front suspension, which in Monaco seems to have given him better sensations, especially under braking: “The new suspensions have been really positive for me. It gave me a lot of confidence last week. I hope this translates here too (in Barcelona).”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Like last year, even this season Mercedes seems to have more than a few difficulties in getting the tires to work in the correct temperature window in qualifying, an aspect which significantly penalizes the performance over one lap and the position on the starting grid . The next step for the engineers will be to maintain the good performance in the race, where the W14 tends to give its best, but improving those on Saturday. The update brought to Monaco does not aim at this aspect, but the research and development work has already begun.
“The update is not intended to change this. Yes, in qualifying we often struggle to reach tire temperature and maximize its potential, while other teams succeed. We weren’t able to extract the maximum potential on a single lap. In the race, it seems like we’ve been kinder to our tires over the last year and I don’t think we really know why they work so well in the race.”
“But I’m sure both are somehow connected. But we are trying to improve in qualifying without sacrificing race performance. There are races where, for example here, the race is the most important. Qualifying is still important, but it’s not the most important thing. In Monaco, on the other hand, qualifying is fundamental”.
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