Mercedes Technical Director Mike Elliot points out the mistakes in the W13 that resulted in their poor 2022 run.
After 8 seasons of complete domination in the sport, Mercedes are currently struggling in F1. No one would have believed the sudden fall of the 8-time Consecutive F1 constructors World Champions.
The 2022 season saw new-generations cars after major regulations change. this was aimed at improving the racing element of F1 and inhibiting better duels.
But the changes in the new cars hurt Mercedes the most. The W13 struggled to find pace in the earlier races compared to Ferrari and Red Bull who whizzed past them in the early stages of the season.
Interesting vortice visible under the Mercedes W13 front wing in front of the floor channel: 🧐 #F1 pic.twitter.com/MSMPitzal9
— Daniel Biały (@f1talks) February 19, 2022
The car was troubled by extreme bouncing in straights and high speeds which made it a challenge for the driver. Still, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell managed to drive the cars to fetch points regularly.
Mike Elliot has been with the Silver arrows since the 2012 season. He currently works as the technical director for the Mercedes AMG F1 team. Recently, he revealed in a podcast the car had a major flaw in its aerodynamics which hurt the performance of the W13.
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Why the Mercedes W13 was slow at the start of the 2022 season?
Since Mike Elliot joined the team in 2012, the team has won a race every season. But in 2022, Mercedes failed to register a single win.
And the Briton pointed out that a fundamental mistake during the creation of the car has hurt its hopes. He claimed, “ I can point to one moment in time last year where we did something where I think we made a mistake.”
Elliot states the team have learnt how the new cars work over the season. And they have been fixing the performance of the W13 over the course of the season.
“What you’re seeing in terms of performance and the way it swings from race to race as a consequence of that. And that’s a mistake we’ve known about for a while, and something we’ve been correcting. And that’s why our performance has gradually got better.
Despite its failures compared to its predecessors, the W13’s performance will be crucial. It will be studied over the Winter break after the 2022 season to allow Mercedes back to their winning ways.
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What was Mercedes W13’s mistake?
Mike Elliot refused to share details of the parts that made the W13 slower. But it is widely believed to be the floors and underbody that caused the cars to bounce and become uncontrollable.
He also claimed the car is not aerodynamically different from the W12. But the car rides lower than the older F1 cars and thus it was a challenge to craft a car according to new regulations.
The W13 has still given a good fight. Both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have grabbed 13 podiums. Lewis came close to winning the 2022 British GP, while Russell has finished in the top 5 in all but 2 races so far.
#F1: Mercedes’ gap to the front could be closed before the summer break. As bouncing is completely solved, data is being directed to upgrades that will bring performance to the W13.
Engineers say their best upgrade will be one we can’t see, most likely under the car.
— deni (@fiagirly) July 18, 2022
Mercedes are 3rd in the Constructor’s Championship with 373 points and are closing in on Ferrari for the 2nd spot. But the team are far away from the pace of both Red Bull and Ferrari
Hamilton has won a race in every F1 season he has competed in. And Mercedes too have been competing for wins since 2012. But a $150,000 part fundamentally changed the season for the duo.
