In 2022, following a massive regulation overhaul, Mercedes went into a slump that it still hasn’t gotten out of. Ferrari and McLaren, once their immediate rivals are now looking forward in hopes of catching Red Bull. Mercedes, however, still underperforms, and as of 2024, isn’t in contention for even the podium places. Peter Windsor knows someone who can help the Silver Arrows find their mojo back. Team principal Toto Wolff, unfortunately, is not ready for that conversation.
Speaking on YouTube CameronF1’s latest video, Windsor talks about knowing “at least” one engineer, who can help Mercedes with their aerodynamic woes. That is the area where Mercedes struggles the most and has been doing so for the last two years. As a result, he decided to offer the German team’s boss some help.
Windsor said, “I wrote to Toto about him and said this guy’s available, he’d love to talk, I’ll put you in touch directly if you’d like to do it.”
Unfortunately, Wolff did not respond to his mail. “[I] didn’t even get a reply. So I don’t know. They’re not listening at the moment as far as I’m concerned. That’s all I can say.”, he added.
Windsor’s revelation comes just weeks after porpoising issues reappeared on Mercedes’ cars. It plagued their campaign in 2022, and disappeared from the cars in 2023, but has made a return once again this season, leaving the Brackley-based outfit immensely worried.
How porpoising affected Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes
The 2022 regulation changes made the F1 cars look radically different, especially due to the changes in aerodynamics. A lot of teams struggled to cope with it, and the bouncing of cars on the straights became a common sight. However, no team struggled with the bouncing more than Mercedes, and this phenomenon soon got termed as porpoising.
In addition to affecting the speed and aerodynamics of a car, porpoising posed serious health issues for the Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton in particular. After the 2022 Azerbaijan GP, Hamilton was seen struggling to get out of the car, due to back pain caused by porpoising.
“This one is the one I remember the most just because of the pain I was in. That weekend [Azerbaijan GP] I went lower than you (George Russell) on the rear. [My] Ride height was much lower. It [porpoising] was much worse on my car. But painful for both of us, I think,” stated Hamilton during his review of the 2022 season.
The porpoising effect has not been so harsh on Hamilton or Russell this season, so far. However, issues of the past continue to haunt the Silver Arrows, and this is an issue they would love to get on top of if they want to close the gap to the top three teams.
