2023 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

[Juzh]

I checked alonso, his DRS worked intermittently. It didn't on main straight, but it did on back straight. So alonso should have been 4th.

[SiLo]

Not sure what the time gain is on the main straight, DRS line is quite close to the finish line.

[214270]

Best sector times have ALO 2 tenths up on HAM, not good but not terrible.

[De Jokke]

https://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view ... struggles/

So, no upgrade or it didn't work, according to Lewis

and still this straightline speed deficit

[AR3-GP]

https://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view ... struggles/

So, no upgrade or it didn't work, according to Lewis

The FIA document shows the upgrades they ran in FP1. Brake duct, wishbone fairing, and rear wing endplate.

[PlatinumZealot]

Guys be realistic. The suspension fairing and a few curls on the floor and wing is not gonna change our competitive order.

These are clearly stated for driveability into cross-winds.

The real upgrade is with the floor and possibly the side pods.

[De Jokke]

https://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view ... struggles/

So, no upgrade or it didn't work, according to Lewis

The FIA document shows the upgrades they ran in FP1. Brake duct, wishbone fairing, and rear wing endplate.

Indeed, but also Wolff claims no upgrade:


Wolff identifies Mercedes problem
"It is confusing with the times, but we are struggling," Wolff explained after Friday's qualifying session to Sky Sports F1.

"The margins are so tiny behind the top three, so we need to do out of it.

"We are losing [time] in three corners - we are pretty matched with Leclerc and [Max] Verstappen in the first two corners, and then the middle sector, the twisty bits, the Ferraris are outstanding.

"We have the car in a good window, it is just generally the car is not stable for the drivers and doesn't have enough load.

"We haven't put any upgrades on the car that will come for Imola, so we need to make the best out of this package."

source: https://racingnews365.com/wolff-pinpoin ... qualifying

[De Jokke]

Guys be realistic. The suspension fairing and a few curls on the floor and wing is not gonna change our competitive order.

These are clearly stated for driveability into cross-winds.

The real upgrade is with the floor and possibly the side pods.

What are you expecting for the race(s)? 5th at best unless the other have difficulties?

[Vanja #66]

Merc has significantly bigger wing than both RB and especially Ferrari this weekend. Still, along with straights they were also losing time in almost all corners. However, it has to be said that despite the bigger wing, they weren't that slow on straights. Overall, they need to improve the floor and I think they may have made a mistake somewhere with setup since their mechanical traction looks worse than ever all of a sudden. Or Ham just didn't trust the car and wasn't ready to push it right to the limit...

[AR3-GP]

Merc has significantly bigger wing than both RB and especially Ferrari this weekend. Still, along with straights they were also losing time in almost all corners. However, it has to be said that despite the bigger wing, they weren't that slow on straights. Overall, they need to improve the floor and I think they may have made a mistake somewhere with setup since their mechanical traction looks worse than ever all of a sudden. Or Ham just didn't trust the car and wasn't ready to push it right to the limit...

They didn't have traction in Bahrain either so it's not all of a sudden. Both Bahrain and Baku are rear limited. Australia is front limited so they didn't struggle there as much.

[AR3-GP]

"We haven't put any upgrades on the car that will come for Imola, so we need to make the best out of this package."

source: https://racingnews365.com/wolff-pinpoin ... qualifying

I think as PZ pointed out, a brake duct, a wishbone fairing and an endplate tweak are not a big deal, but they are new parts whose goal was to improve cross wind stability. At this point I'm done trying to keep up with Toto, for all we know the upgrade will show up in Miami instead, but I think the FIA documents are clear about what they did and they didn't have time after FP1 to remove these parts.

[chrisc90]

What was it Russell was saying in the simulator? Wasn't it along the lines of he's loving the new feel of the car and positive about it? (I cant remember exactly).

I wonder what car he was referring to. Is the simulator running ahead of the current car?

[Cs98]

Merc has significantly bigger wing than both RB and especially Ferrari this weekend. Still, along with straights they were also losing time in almost all corners. However, it has to be said that despite the bigger wing, they weren't that slow on straights. Overall, they need to improve the floor and I think they may have made a mistake somewhere with setup since their mechanical traction looks worse than ever all of a sudden. Or Ham just didn't trust the car and wasn't ready to push it right to the limit...

Hamilton got a royal tow on that lap he did in Q3. He ran very close to the car in front. Probably inflated his straight line speeds with 3-5 kph across the lap.

[cplchanb]

What was it Russell was saying in the simulator? Wasn't it along the lines of he's loving the new feel of the car and positive about it? (I cant remember exactly).

I wonder what car he was referring to. Is the simulator running ahead of the current car?

Well if anything whatever he felt in the sim wont be the real thing until at least imola or even mid season.

[taperoo2k]

Guys be realistic. The suspension fairing and a few curls on the floor and wing is not gonna change our competitive order.

These are clearly stated for driveability into cross-winds.

The real upgrade is with the floor and possibly the side pods.

I'd expect a lot of incremental upgrades throughout the season alongside the big upgrades. Realistically if all goes to plan for Mercedes they might be back in the hunt for race wins on merit by the end of the season. I don't see much reason to panic at this stage of the season. I think this weekend with only 1 practise session plus the brake issues, they simply didn't have enough time to fine tune the W14 which looks like a pain to get into the right window performance wise.