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Mercedes struggles with uncompetitive engine in Jeddah

26 March 2022 at 16:20
Last update 26 March 2022 at 20:47
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  • GPblog.com

It is well known that Mercedes is not having the season start that the team had hoped for, but there seems to be more going on with the men from Brackley. The Mercedes engine was by far the strongest in the field from 2014, but in 2022 that is no longer the case. The results of the third free practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix paint a shocking picture.

Despite Mercedes managing to take a solid third and fourth place in Bahrain last week, the team is suffering tremendously from porpoising. With this, the German formation loses a lot of time on the straights, but there seems to be more to it than just the bouncing of the W13.

Lewis Hamilton, with an eleventh place, was the highest classified driver with a Mercedes engine. The other seven drivers can be found in places fourteen to twenty (!). It seems that there is something not quite right with engine supplier Mercedes. What that might be, is for now only a guess. Possibly it is track specific, but towards the rest of this weekend it is not very hopeful.

Engine freeze in 2022

The timing is severely lousy for Mercedes, as engine development is frozen starting this year. No updates are allowed to be rolled out for much for the engine already. Only the MGU-K, the Energy Store and the Control Electronics are allowed to continue development until September 1 of this year.