After securing pole position and his first podium of the 2024 season at the Canadian GP, Mercedes driver George Russell was beaming with confidence. While the Silver Arrows have made significant progress in understanding the W15’s concept, technical director James Allison does not expect Russell to repeat his heroics at the Spanish GP.
The British engineer, while speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, told host Tom Clarkson that the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was a much forgiving track for their car. The W15 has suffered from balance issues constantly, and while the new front wing has alleviated some of those issues, the Montreal street circuit did not really push the car to its very limits.
Speaking about their chances at the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix, Allison explained, “While I am pretty sure that we will make a good showing in the nearby future races, I’d be surprised if we were on pole at the next one for example.” The Briton also went on to explain what Mercedes‘ problems exactly were this season and in the recent past.
James Allison on how Mercedes plans to bully the W15 to the front.
“Our challenge is just to keep those upgrades arriving at a pace that the others cannot keep up with.
“In doing that, just bullying our car to the front by virtue of the effort made by everybody here over the… pic.twitter.com/7kkIroyFyv
— F1_MercHub (@F1MercHub) June 17, 2024
The team was not able to get their car working in an operating window that was good in both the high-speed and low-speed corners. Hence, they were always sacrificing performance without understanding the reason.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has every type of corner. With a mix of high-speed, low-speed, and medium-speed sections, the Barcelona track is going to be a litmus test for the revamped W15.
Are Mercedes now a force to be reckoned with in 2024?
The first major upgrade that was brought onto the W15 was at the 2024 Monaco GP. The team introduced a new-spec front wing that was a more conventional take on the design compared to their previous iterations. Monaco was a strong weekend for the team, but at the Canadian GP, the W15 really came into its own.
But this uptick in performance has caught a few suspicious glimpses from rivals such as Red Bull. In any case, team boss Toto Wolff has discarded the idea that it was only the front-wing that unlocked the W15’s true potential.
Toto Wolff emphasized that Mercedes aims to build on their recent success in Spain, following a strong performance at the Canadian Grand Prix where they secured pole position and celebrated a third-place finish. The team is eager to continue their momentum at the Circuit de… pic.twitter.com/9FYCQxqTkt
— This is Formula 1 (@ThisIsFormu1a1) June 18, 2024
“The truth is we have, over the last few races, brought so many new parts, visible and invisible to the eye, that have contributed milliseconds to more performance,” said Wolff as quoted by Crash.net, whilst explaining why the front wing upgrade was only part of the developmental program that has seemingly turned the team’s fortunes around.
And Mercedes’ upgrades will not just stop there. The team will also bring in more upgrades for the Spanish GP this weekend.
