F1 News
No quick fix for Mercedes: 'They want to run where the Red Bull is'
- GPblog.com
It was an annual game at Mercedes: Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton crept into the role of underdog in the preseason, then the team simply returned to dominating the field. This year, however, it appears to have been no bluff. Still, according to Anthony Davidson, there is no reason to panic yet.
The Sky Sports-analyst has been doing simulator work for Mercedes since 2012 and thus maintains close ties with the team. For Davidson, "alarm bells were ringing" even before the Formula One season began, at the winter test in Bahrain. He was concerned that the car there was nothing like the one he had driven in the simulator.
Mercedes caused a stir with its new streamlined design, which was very different from the car it took to the first winter test in Barcelona. However, that new design didn't pay off, as the team has been plagued with porpoising problems ever since. Unlike Red Bull Racing and Ferrari, this does not allow them to adjust the ride height as desired.
No quick fix for Mercedes
"I think Mercedes ideally wants to run where the Red Bull is, but every time they try that, the bouncing is incredibly detrimental to comfort and speed," says Davidson. He stresses that it happens not only on the straight, but also in the high-speed corners.
According to the former Formula One driver, there is no quick fix for Mercedes' problems, but there will be phased updates in the next races. The first update would be scheduled for the Australian Grand Prix.
Still, this will probably not be enough to compete for the top positions, Davidson argues. "The car is not as good as the Red Bull and the Ferrari, it is in no man's land," he continued. "I do expect them to make progress, but it will take time."