“It will have a greater influence at some tracks”– Mercedes’ suspension could land them powerful gains in final races claims Christian Horner

Tanish Chachra | 27/10/2021
"It will have a greater influence at some tracks"– Mercedes' suspension could land them powerful gains in final races claims Christian Horner

Mercedes’ flexible suspension, discovered in the USGP, may bring a difference in the next few races, claims Red Bull boss Christian Horner.

Mercedes rear suspensions amazed the whole F1 fraternity when it was observed that they bend to a considerable level to reduce the drag for the car.

However, this trick didn’t help them in the Circuit of the Americas, where Mercedes lost to Red Bull. It is harder to execute the track in the high-speed corners at COTA since there is not enough variation between the top corner speeds and the straights.

But stepping into the following five races, Horner thinks the rear suspension may provide Mercedes with a considerable edge, as they will suit its needs.

“It will have a greater influence at some tracks than others,” said Horner. “It was a reduced effect here [in the United States] but somewhere like Jeddah for example, it could be quite powerful.”

Mercedes thinks everyone is finding the silver bullet

While Horner doesn’t feel what Mercedes is doing is illegal, he certainly believes it’s an extreme extent of what has already been done. But Mercedes boss downplays such suggestions.

“I think we recognise absolutely that this is a sport where competitors will always try to find out if there is some kind of silver bullet. My experience is there is no such thing, it’s all the small gains, marginal gains that have been added and bring performance,” said Toto Wolff.

“We’re trying to really comprehend our car better and add performance in lap time without listening too much to the noise,” he added. Mercedes are predicted to be stronger than Red Bull in the three races scheduled in the middle east.

The two circuits- Qatar and Saudi Arabia haven’t been explored by F1 yet. So, Red Bull would be banking on winning both races in Mexico and Brazil.

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Mercedes Red Bull

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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