Key weekend for Mercedes: 'Philosophy wrong if this doesn't work'.
General
- GPblog.com
At Sky Sports , Martin Brundle and Jenson Button agree that it's make or break for Mercedes this weekend. The German team has brought many updates and if this does not work out Mercedes will have to rethink the whole concept of the W13, say the former Formula One drivers.
Since 2013, a Mercedes has won in Britain on all but one occasion. Only Sebastian Vettel managed to cross the line first in a Ferrari in 2018. Lewis Hamilton in particular is incredibly strong at Silverstone. Of the last eight editions, no fewer than seven went to Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes and Silverstone are two hands in one glove.
That means that this year too they have to perform. Victory is not expected, but they should at least be able to seriously challenge Red Bull Racing and Ferrari, especially with the rigorous updates that have been included. "The track is smooth, not a lot of kerbs to climb over which has been the achilles heel of this car," Brundle explained.
Button is also impressed with Mercedes' new floor and notes the introduction of a new front and rear wing and new brake ducts. "It's a lot on a Formula 1 car. Everything that is aero on the car, a massive shift. It seems like we're going back to the old days, where we had a massive upgrade every 4 races. It's not tweaking, this is a big changem" said the one-time world champion.
How well will Mercedes do?
According to Mercedes, the W13 has a lot of potential, but it has yet to unlock it in 2022. If the Brackley-based team can't pull it off again at Silverstone, Brundle says it will stop. "You talk about a b-spec, if this doesn't work they have to think about the b-spec, another car. If they can't unlock the potential of this shrink wrap car, [they've got the philosophy wrong.] This has to work here."