Mercedes to be in midfield again? 'Haven't found a magic solution yet'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
That the 2022 regulations are doing their job in bringing the field closer together has clearly been shown by Mercedes. Whereas last year they managed to win the constructors' championship, this season they are condemned to a role in the midfield. Although they got the podium in Bahrain with Lewis Hamilton, the mood is anything but satisfied at Mercedes.
Toto Wolff also notices this, as he explains in the Mercedes preview. In Jeddah, Lewis Hamilton had a difficult time and dropped out of Q1. He eventually finished on P10 on Sunday, but it shows how big the problems are for the team from Woking.
No solution to the problems
Wolff's expectation is that things will not be much better in Melbourne. "There won't be a magic fix for the next race weekend, but we're pushing to steadily bring gains over the up-coming races. Until then, we need to maximise each opportunity and make the most of the package we have"
Those opportunities will most likely be there in Australia. On the track, overtaking has been made easier due to changes and, on top of that, the circuit is a lot faster than in 2019. At Mercedes, they are putting everything in place to finish the preparation as well as possible. "Lewis and George are making an important contribution to the overall effort, providing feedback, spending time in the simulator and working together to help push us forward," Wolff concluded.