The struggles for Mercedes seem to continue this season as the team had a mixed result in Bahrain last weekend. George Russell finished the race in fifth, while Lewis Hamilton only managed to finish seventh. Although the Silver Arrows came to Jeddah this weekend in hopes of doing away with the issues that halted their progress, they have not managed to overcome their concerns. In FP2 in Jeddah, Russell showcased a great drive to finish a little over 0.2 seconds behind leader Fernando Alonso. Meanwhile, Hamilton continued to struggle with the W15’s handling issues.
Addressing the same in a report by Crash.net, Karun Chandhok believes neither driver is happy with the W15. Despite Russell faring much better than Hamilton in the W15, Chandhok believes there is much work that Mercedes needs to do, especially when it comes to finding the right balance with the car.
“Lewis [Hamilton] was a couple of tenths shy of George in Bahrain and in the race, four or five seconds behind in the end. He has just not looked as happy as even George has done today. Certainly on the long runs, both were complaining about the rear end going away and instability at the rear-end which we heard a lot of last year. There’s work to do overnight,” explained Chandhok.
Of the two Mercedes drivers, Hamilton has fared much worse. While power unit overheating issues cost Russell a potential podium finish in Bahrain, Hamilton never even joined the running.
A cracked seat added to the 39-year-old’s misery as he rose to P7 after qualifying a dismal P9 for the season opener. In Jeddah, problems once again persisted for the seven-time world champion, as there were several oversteer moments for him.
Much of it stemmed from his W15 sporting a loose rear end. Having driven around the Saudi Arabian track for two sessions now, Hamilton conceded he still does not have “full faith” in the car on the track.
Mercedes still looking for the right answers
Heading over from Bahrain, battery and overheating issues needed Mercedes’ immediate attention. In Jeddah, this issue had the team’s undivided attention, and they made the necessary adjustments to get their car running optimally.
However, Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin claimed that the adjustments did not work the way they intended. As per Shovlin, their flying lap was messy, and traffic did not help their cause. Hence, he feels a quieter session would have helped their cause much better.
Adding to his statement, Shovlin said that Mercedes missed the necessary grip and high speed. As a result, in the run-up to the qualification, the Silver Arrows continue looking for the right answers.
Even their long runs were far from ideal during the practice sessions in Jeddah. While limited data shows that Mercedes have a great race pace, the ground reality is much different.
Consistent balance issues with the W15 continue to add to the drivers’ unhappiness. With time still left before the Qualifying session, Mercedes needs to find the right places to make improvements to their car.
