Mercedes technical director James Allison says the team has achieved the goals it set for its W15, which is the product of a new design philosophy.
However he admitted some aspects of the car’s design have not been radically changed due to the limitations imposed on the team by the cost cap.
Allison returned to the role of technical director in April last year after Mercedes were disappointed by the performance of the W14, produced under Mike Elliott. Allison has masterminded an overhaul of the team’s approach to the technical regulations which were introduced in 2022, since when the team has won just one grand prix.
Mercedes committed to extensive changes to the architecture of its next car soon after Allison took over.
“Bigger layout changes are not freed up by no longer having the hassle of racing, you make those big layout changes prior to the summer,” Allison explains. “So, when we talk about a layout change, you’re generally talking about where the engine sits in the chassis, what geometry of rear suspension you’re going to have on the gearbox and what changes you are going to make to the part that contains the driver.
“Those are all three things that are hypothetically do-able in the middle of a year but come at such huge opportunity cost that you would never contemplate it. But nevertheless, you need to commit to them in the preceding summer.
“The off-season is about proving to yourself on your internal rigs and simulators that those pieces are what you hope they might be; that it looks like it will deliver on your hopes.”
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Although the team won’t get their first impression of how successful they have been until the W15 completes its first scheduled run at Silverstone today, Allison is confident about the direction they have taken.
“I feel like we have delivered on all the things we said we wanted to do,” he said. “Some aspects are unbounded and therefore you can never be fully satisfied. We will not know until we run the car truly.
“But I think we can say that we feel like we have worked well. Formula 1 is a relative game. Whether we’ve worked well enough to be competitive, only time will tell. We do not know what everyone else has done.”
Mercedes last won the constructors’ championship in 2021, the first year F1 introduced its budget cap. Allison admitted the restrictions on spending meant they had to accept…
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