There is light at the end of the Mercedes tunnel, or so Toto Wolff hopes, the Austrian saying they have found “several directions” to improve the W13.
Those solutions will be trialed on Friday at the Miami Grand Prix.
Mercedes have had a wretched start to their 2022 campaign, the W13 with its zero-pods suffering with extreme porpoising.
In order to minimise that the team has had to raise the ride-height of the car, costing them downforce and pace.
It is a compromise that the team is having to make with George Russell saying such was the bouncing on his way to fourth place at Imola thathe was left with back and chest pain.
But while Russell seems to be able to cope with it better, his team-mate Lewis Hamilton had a point-less weekend, one that Wolff said was a “low” for the car, not the driver.
There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon.
Working hard in week between Imola and Miami, the Mercedes motorsport boss says they have found “several directions” to improve their car and will be trialing those in Miami.
Still we risepic.twitter.com/sVaM9j23sn
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1)May 3, 2022
“It was a very difficult weekend for us in Imola,” Wolff started off by saying. “George did a great job to finish P4 from an unpromising starting position but with Lewis, we didn’t give him the tools or track position to show his true pace.
“Since we returned from Italy, we’ve learned as much from the weekend as we can and, in parallel, our learning has continued in the wind tunnel and simulations.
“We have found several directions for improving the car, and we will be conducting experiments in Miami to correlate those simulations, and hopefully confirm the development path for the coming races.
“两个司机working in the simulator ahead of Miami and the factories have been busy producing updates for the next races.
“The saying ‘smooth seas do not make good sailors’ comes to mind.
“This team has shown its resilience over many years and the difficult start to this season has lit a fire within every team member, determined to put it right.”
The Miami circuit is a new venue for Formula 1 with the designers hoping it offers something different with the T11-T16 sequencesaid to be “truly make-or-break” for a driver’s lap time.
Wolff is looking forward to the challenge.
“Miami is an exciting new challenge and a complete step into the unknown,” he said.
“The track looks demanding, with a real mix of low and high-speed corners, and it’s set to be a spectacular showcase for the sport to our growing US fanbase.
“So, we’re set for a fantastic event, and we can’t wait to see how it all plays out.”
Mercedes head to America trailing Ferrari by 47 points in theConstructors’ Championship.