F1 News: Mercedes Confirms "Experiments" On W15 At Upcoming Australian Grand Prix

Mercedes will be experimenting with set-up in Australia.

Mercedes has announced its intention to conduct experimental adjustments to the W15 at the Australian Grand Prix, aiming to tackle the car's persistent issues. This decision follows the vehicle's noticeable struggles with bouncing and poor performance in high-speed corners in recent races.

Key Takeaways:

• Mercedes is planning experimental changes for the W15 at the Australian GP to address its bouncing issues and poor high-speed cornering.
• The team's strategy involves analysing data from both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix to devise new approaches for the Melbourne practice sessions.
• Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has highlighted the necessity of addressing the car's fundamental issues, as evidenced by similar challenges faced by both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell despite different setups.

Mercedes Press Image

The Mercedes Formula 1 team is looking to address the W15's ongoing challenges during the Australian Grand Prix weekend. Andrew Shovlin, the team's trackside engineering director, revealed plans for "experiments" intended to improve the car's performance, particularly in high-speed corners where its shortcomings were notably exposed during the Saudi Arabian GP. He commented to Autosport:

"There's definitely data that we're picking through from Jeddah.

"We're also looking at data from the Bahrain race, Bahrain test, and we will come up with a plan for how we approach free practice in Melbourne. But it's not just based on what we did in Jeddah."

With a comprehensive approach to problem-solving, the Mercedes team is not solely relying on recent race data but is also drawing on insights from previous tests and races. 

"There's a lot of work going on within the aerodynamics department, vehicle dynamics department.

"We're trying to design some experiments there that will hopefully give us a direction that's good for performance."

Mercedes Press Image

The challenge of high-speed corner performance is a significant concern for the team, as Shovlin confirmed. The issue was particularly detrimental to the team's performance in Bahrain. He continued:

"It’s a few things.

"One of them was the balance wasn't great. So those very fast corners, the walls aren't particularly far away – so the ones where the driver wants a lot of confidence – and quite often we were snapping to oversteer if they really leant on the tyres.

"And you can easily imagine how unsettling that is for the drivers. Now, that was a factor in qualifying and the race."

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In addition to handling issues, the car also experienced notable bouncing, especially in low fuel conditions during qualifying. However, this was somewhat mitigated in race conditions with higher fuel loads. 

"In qualifying we were also suffering a bit with the bouncing. That was less of a problem in the race. There's more fuel on the car. You're going a bit slower. And that seemed to calm down, and wasn't such an issue."

The pursuit of improved grip is paramount for the team as it prepares for the Australian Grand Prix, which features corners of a similar nature to those in Bahrain. Shovlin emphasised the need for a comprehensive understanding of the car's limitations, as both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell encountered similar issues despite exploring different setup directions. 

“When you change things, you can see the differences. So, one car making changes, you can see how it performs run-to-run.

"We can also look at the global performance of the two cars, but fundamentally, the limitations that we had in qualifying and the race, they were broadly the same for both.

"So it's telling you it's not a small difference, it's not a tiny bit of camber or a spring or bar here and there. It's something more fundamental that we need to dig into and understand."

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