Mercedes is gearing up to unveil some new upgrades during the upcoming race weekend in Miami, but the big question looming is whether these enhancements will truly elevate the performance of the W15 F1 car.
The recent race weekend in China brought about a mix of emotions for Mercedes. While Lewis Hamilton’s second-place finish in the sprint race was a morale booster, his disappointing eighteenth-place qualifying result and subsequent ninth-place finish in the main race on Sunday left much to be desired.
The Mercedes W15 continues to be a tricky car to handle, as noted by Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff, who acknowledges that the planned upgrades may not result in a significant performance improvement.
“The car is currently challenging to set up and drive, which explains the inconsistent performance we’ve been seeing,” explained Wolff. “It’s far from its optimal state and requires driving on a knife’s edge.”
“That’s the situation we find ourselves in. We are introducing some new components for the upcoming race in Miami, and it will be interesting to observe how they impact the car’s performance,” he added.
Despite the upcoming upgrades, Wolff remains grounded in his expectations, understanding that there are no quick fixes in Formula 1 to catapult a team to the front of the grid.
“I don’t believe there is a magic solution. Our approach is to gradually enhance the performance of our car, focusing on the fundamentals such as wind tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamics. Increasing downforce on the car is crucial. Sometimes, it’s as simple as that,” Wolff concluded.