The 2024 Belgian GP was a rollercoaster of emotions for Mercedes. After a poor outing on Friday, the team qualified in third and sixth for the race, which was a positive outcome relative to Friday. This turn of fortunes was due to the team’s last-minute decision to keep aside the floor upgrades brought to the weekend. However, the floor upgrade will return in the next race. Andrew Shovlin explained why they want to bring back this troubled upgrade.
The Brackley outfit instantly faced problems with the floor during the Friday runs at Spa. The W15 started bouncing in the high-speed corners. This scenario rang alarm bells in the Mercedes garage. With Spa-Francorchamps sharing traits with the Silverstone circuit, eventually, the team decided to run the same specs as the British GP.
However, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin revealed in the YouTube Belgian GP debrief, that the floor upgrade wasn’t the problem. It was the setup that caused the trouble and after looking at the data, the floor will be back in Zandvoort.
He revealed, “We’ve since had time to look at the data to understand what it was we did exactly, and knowing that, we’re pretty confident that we’ll be going for a reintroduction in Zandvoort.”
George Russell explains why Mercedes has already removed the floor upgrades from the W15. The German team brought the upgrades specifically to Spa, but the new parts were already absent during the qualification. According to the Brit, the team’s… https://t.co/BzNG228hTV
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Mercedes will have plenty of time before the Dutch GP to optimize the upgrade. This will possibly take them one step further. The Brackley outfit have already finished the first half of the season on the front foot despite a poor start. The consistent performances in the last few races prove the wins and podiums aren’t a fluke anymore.
Now, Mercedes seems well and truly back challenging at the front making the championship a four-horse race. All signs point toward the Brackley outfit challenging for wins in the second half as well.
