Mercedes expect to have a better idea what the best long-term solution is for their car problems after next week’s Canadian Grand Prix.
The team is using race weekends as opportunities to gather information about its car in order to solve the porpoising problems they have suffered since the start of the season. Team principal Toto Wolff admitted the lack of opportunities to conduct in-season testing is “slowing us down a lot” in their research.
“I imagine if we would have a day or two of testing we would make a big step,” he said in response to a question from RaceFans after qualifying yesterday. “But it is what it is, that’s the constraint for everybody.”
The team is instead using race weekends to conduct experiments with different parts and set-ups. Wolff said yesterday the differences between their cars explains why Lewis Hamilton has not been on his team mate’s pace over the last three weekends.
That approach will continue when F1 goes to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Canada next week. “I think we just need to approach the race weekends more from an experimental side,” said Wolff. “We are, at the moment, not in the hunt for a race win on merit. I think we are a good [way] behind the top teams.
“We just need to see those sessions, maybe not with the view of optimising the single session, but with a view of understanding. This is what we are doing and this is what we are going to do tomorrow and in Montreal.”
The team began to get a handle on its porpoising problem in Spain, said Wolff, but further gains are needed.
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“We made a really good step in Barcelona,” he said. “For a circuit with a smooth surface, less bumps, we’re fine, I think we have a good car and we are able to unlock the performance in the race, but in quali we were lacking a bit.
“But that is easy to explain because we’ve had now two months that we…
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