Mercedes is having a hard time in 2022 and their car along with others is also overweight, but they have a strange solution.
In 2022, all the teams are facing car weight issues. Both Mercedes and Red Bull are reportedly 15kgs overweight, while Ferrari is marginally five kgs over the limit.
Thus to solve the overweight issue, Mercedes reportedly removed the paint from the front wings after the Barcelona testing. It can easily be said as something strange. But at the same time, it is indicating that Mercedes have little room to do modifications.
The full body paint of an F1 car can weigh over six kgs. Thus, it is surely a luxury for the teams struggling for reducing their weight. Despite this, that also Mercedes is still struggling with weight issues. Presently, only Alfa Romeo is the only team to be within the limit.
Mercedes not the only one
According to the report by AMuS, Mercedes is not the only team to save on the paint to reduce the weight on the car. Teams like Red Bull, McLaren and Williams are also doing the same.
“After the Bahrain tests, Red Bull did without paint on the two lower wing elements,” says the AMuS report. “Mercedes scratched the black paint off the three flaps after the Barcelona tests.”
“At McLaren, only the rear wing flap is colored light blue; a lot of the orange area on the bonnet disappeared between Barcelona and Bahrain. Williams does without blue areas on the cockpit side.”
The diet is best seen on the side boxes and the chassis flanks. At Red Bull you get the impression that the painter ran out of paint. The lower part of the side panels is black. At Alpine it is the rear part and the tail fairing. Williams saves paint on the lower part of the engine cover.
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