Mercedes engineer Mike Elliott has now revealed that their side were not the only ones who faced bouncing issues at the Belgian Grand Prix this past weekend. The 49-year-old’s remarks come after Lewis Hamilton complained about the same at SPA. Hamilton explained after the race how his car suffered bouncing issues and stated that they were similar to the struggles his team faced last year. While the Silver Arrows worked extremely hard to limit the porpoising issues from last year, Elliott believes that some external factors were also at play at SPA that resulted in this issue coming back to haunt them.
The British engineer gave his remarks during Mercedes’ post-race debrief. During the debrief, he began by acknowledging that they definitely did face some bouncing at the Belgian Grand Prix as both drivers complained about the same.
He then went on to add that there was also some bouncing visible on the other cars. As a result of the same, he believes that the design of the SPA circuit also contributes to the same. After stating the same, he concluded his analysis by stating that the bouncing had nothing to do with the setup of their cars.
Elliott reveals Mercedes suffered bouncing due to external factors
Mike Elliott gave his explanation for Mercedes’ bouncing concerns after a fan asked him about the same during the team’s post-race debrief. When asked the same, Elliott explained how bouncing was a significant concern for their drivers at SPA as it affected their “ability to extract the maximum grip from the car“.
He then added that they will work on the same for the future before concluding his remarks by stating, “At the moment our belief is that it is probably isn’t a result of setup rather than the circuit itself“. Hence, considering that the Silver Arrows do not believe that there was any issue regarding the setup of their car, their fans perhaps do not have much to worry.
As for Mercedes, they are still on course to finish second in the Constructors’ Championship. This is because as things stand, they have scored 247 points and have a 51-point lead over second-placed Aston Martin. Therefore, the only concern that the Silver Arrows have at the moment is the massive deficit they still have to leaders Red Bull, who lead the championship by a whopping 256 points.
Red Bull find themselves in a league of their own
Considering that Red Bull have scored more than double the points of second-placed Mercedes, it is fair to say that they are in a league of their own. The Milton Keynes outfit has won all 12 races of the 2023 season so far, with reigning double world champion Max Verstappen winning 10 of them.
Since Red Bull have been so dominant, the likes of Mercedes and the rest are only thinking about finishing in the runners-up spot. In that regard, the Silver Arrows have obviously done well as they have a healthy lead over their main rivals such as Aston Martin and Ferrari.
However, the main question that arises is about when can Mercedes actually close down the gap to Red Bull. Since Lewis Hamilton has been pressing his side to focus on next year’s car, there is a chance that the Silver Arrows can return to the top as early as next season.
