Former F1 world champion Damon Hill says Mercedes’ aerodynamics department is “missing a trick” and wonders if staff departures mean it is losing its way to compete with Red Bull. The introduction of the hybrid era in F1 in 2014 ushered in an era of enduring dominance by Mercedes, with the team achieving an astonishing eight consecutive constructors’ championships and seven drivers’ titles.
However, with last year’s revision of the technical regulations and the introduction of ground effect aerodynamics, Mercedes’ hegemony came to a complete halt, and Red Bull took the baton and entered the race on its own. From last year’s much-maligned Zero Sidepod concept to a series of upgrades implemented on the 2023 car, Mercedes has only shown modest glimpses of its former self, particularly at last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix, where George Russell led the Germans to their only victory in the past two seasons. Hill believes Mercedes’ success has been largely built on the strength and reliability of its power unit, and that it has paid the price for relying too much on its biggest asset at the expense of its aerodynamic program. “My fear is that for a long time Mercedes’ advantage was actually due to the power unit,” said Hill, who is a consultant to Sky F1. “They had the best power unit for a long time and the aerodynamics were always slightly different to Red Bull. “If you remember towards the end of the previous F1 regulations, Red Bull was an absolutely huge rake. Whereas they stuck to a relatively flat car.”They took the lead and everyone started following the Red Bull with this very high rake.It was like a rat running. “However, Mercedes seemed to be tenaciously or obstinately sticking to their philosophy and running cars with a different aero concept under the previous regulations, but then new regulations were introduced.” “What I’m saying is that I think Mercedes’ aero department may be missing a trick here. They’ve lost quite a lot of good aero talent to other teams over time. The introduction of a new floor design to the car at last month’s US Grand Prix resulted in a strong performance for Mercedes, with a strong Lewis Hamilton taking second place behind Max Verstappen in Austin and a week later in Mexico City. However, last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix was a disappointing result for Mercedes, with Hamilton finishing a distant eighth at Interlagos and Russell’s efforts cut short due to engine problems. Hill’s Sky F1 colleague Karun Chandhok believes Mercedes’ inconsistent performance in the last three races is a sign that the team has yet to fully understand the W14 car. “They need to understand as a group where the root of the problem is,” Chandhok said. “They’ve been fast in the last few races, but let’s not forget that they got disqualified in Austin. “You can’t compete for a championship when you have these ups and downs without a clear understanding of why. “Right now, if they had said, “We know we’re going to struggle here,” or “We know we’re going to be weak here, and we’re going to do our best,” it would have been fine. , that doesn’t seem to be the case.”They don’t seem to fully understand why the highs are high and why the lows are low.That will remain a concern next year.” In Chandhok’s view, McLaren has now proven itself to be Red Bull’s closest rival. “Since the upgrade in Austria, they have been leading on every type of track, every type of corner and every weekend,” Chandhok added. “Wet or dry, they were there. That gives confidence to the aero department that the car is working. “Mercedes doesn’t have that. This weekend they are slower than AlphaTauri and Alpine. , much slower than McLaren, Red Bull or Aston Martin. It’s just confusing.”
2023-11-13 02:50:00
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