The storyline surrounding Mercedes ahead of each race this season has been the same: will this be the weekend the reigning F1 world champions finally unlock the potential of their car? Yet with almost a quarter of the season complete, increasingly the question is whether the potential is there at all and whether Mercedes is heading down a developmental cul-de-sac with its unique car concept.
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes both wrote off the prospect of challenging for the 2022 title two races ago at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, when it appeared as though the team had reached a new low. Hamilton qualified 13th at Imola, dropped to 14th on the grid after the sprint race and finished the grand prix where he originally qualified in 13th. Teammate George Russell has been more consistent, grinding out top-five finishes at the first five races, but Mercedes’ lack of performance has meant that neither driver has stood a chance of challenging Red Bull and Ferrari for race wins.
The hope is that Mercedes can develop its car back up the grid by bringing upgraded parts to upcoming races, but the solution might not be that simple.
Why is the Mercedes so slow?
Mercedes’ main problem is that its car starts to bounce on its suspension at high speed, which has a number of knock-on effects on performance, including making it incredibly difficult for the drivers to attack corners. The bouncing, known as “porpoising” in F1 because the car’s vertical movement is said to resemble a porpoise swimming through water, is shared by a number of teams but has had a bigger impact on Mercedes’ performance than any others.
The bouncing is directly linked to F1’s rule changes for 2022, which have allowed teams more freedom to generate downforce from the underside of the car through the use of ground-effect aerodynamics. Essentially, the length of the car’s floor is treated as an…
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