Mercedes have formed a plan of action to improve their problematic W13 chassis and will bring updates over the coming races, team principal Toto Wolff has confirmed.
The team intends to use this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix to verify their conclusions about the car, which has lagged up to one second per lap off its rivals in the opening races.
The W13 has been severely afflicted by the phenomenon of porpoising. Others have suffered the same problem but some of those, such as Ferrari, have been able to prevent it from seriously compromising the performance of their cars.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and 13th in the last race at Imola. Both drivers have been at work in the simulator since then to assist their development push.
“It was a very difficult weekend for us in Imola,” said Wolff. “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.
“Both drivers have been working in the simulator ahead of Miami and the factories have been busy producing updates for the next races.”
The team will conduct its latest experiments on its car on a track which is unfamiliar to the entire field.
“Miami is an exciting new challenge and a complete step into the unknown,” said Wolff. “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. We’re set for a fantastic event, and we can’t wait to see how it all plays out.”
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