The 2022 Formula 1 season Mercedes did not start as the team wanted. For the moment, the W13 does not have the weapons to fight once morest Ferrari and Red Bull, who are well ahead. Despite a good pace on the first stint, a rear wing generating too much drag and a questionable strategic choice (with the passage of hard tires) prevented Mercedes from keeping contact with the leaders.
But while the team clinched an unexpected podium in an incredible scenario, Mercedes said they took this Grand Prix as a test session. The Silver Arrows were too slow to worry the cars in front, but too fast to be overtaken by their pursuers: the opportunity was perfect for testing and collecting data.
“To a certain extent, this was a new situation for us, because we are in a kind of no man’s land between P3/P4 and P6”analyzes the boss of Mercedes, Toto Wolff. “Because of that, you can experiment with things, and I think it was worth trying the hard tires. The strategy was very different from the front teams, and obviously it didn’t work. But more rolling , more laps and more learning for us.”
Wolff goes on to say that Mercedes have the third best car on the grid, and the team needs to work on many areas to improve. “Finishing P5 and P6 would have been the logical result in our position”says the Austrian. “I think we were competitive on the first few laps on soft compound, and we were able to keep up, if not faster, than some guys up front. But we had more degradation.”
“Nevertheless, it was a good practice session for us. We tested the hard tyres, which were not performing well. extract the performance, so there are a lot of lessons to be learned from it. There are so many aspects that we need to improve in order to be able to race with the guys up front.”
Mercedes is always looking for the ideal balance between performance and comfort for the driver, who has to suffer the porpoising effect. The team is convinced that the car still has a lot of untapped potential, not least because of the compromises made to prevent the car from bouncing. That’s why Wolff thinks it’s not just regarding bringing in new parts.
“First of all, you have to understand how to release this performance that we think we have in the car, or that we hope to have”he adds. “Before wondering regarding the performance of the car, I want to see this.”
However, Wolff recognizes that the team must pass a big step before thinking of victory, and that the situation in the championship already seems compromised. “It’s too early to watch the championship”explains the boss of Mercedes. “If we look at the current hierarchy, we are very, very far to even think of winning a championship. But if I only look at the race weekend, then I think we might not score more points. “We have to build on that. Every weekend counts and right now they’re consistent. But when you’re third on the track, you can’t think regarding winning.”
