After a tough start to the season, Mercedes won two back-to-back races in Austria and Britain, kickstarting their comeback journey to the top of F1. However, there was an anomaly to the W15 that helped George Russell win the race in Spielberg, and Lewis Hamilton end his 945-day victory drought.
In Austria, a bulge was spotted on the nose of the car, and it turned out to be the first race the Silver Arrows would win since 2022. A report published by Formula Data Analysis states that this change came because of Mercedes fitting in a component on its car – a heave Spring and damper.
Since making this change, Mercedes has won all the races: what is it?
In Austria, a ‘bulge’ appeared on the W15’s nose: it is needed to accommodate the new third element (heave spring + damper), which allows the team to use a softer, more damped setup
This choice has some… pic.twitter.com/hGF2y4vZht
— Formula Data Analysis (@FDataAnalysis) July 12, 2024
The bulge on the car reduces downforce. A softer suspension prevents the floor from working as close as possible to its ideal height. Still, the improvement for Mercedes has been massive since it went for this change.
As quoted by PledgeTimees,
“The damping of the stresses helped Mercedes find the balance that it had been stubbornly searching for three years with continuous modifications to the pavement of the ground. The primacy of the mechanics met the efficiency of the aerodynamics, giving results that transformed the W15 from being a “dud” into a winning car.”.
Now that Mercedes has overcome its past issues, Technical Director James Allison is baffled at how they didn’t come across a solution before.
Alison labels Mercedes “dumb”
According to Allison, Mercedes’s recent upgrade package helped them overcome a persisting aerodynamic issue. The 56-year-old points out how the changes brought in Monaco were going to help in either high-speed corners or low-speed corners; but never both.
As such, the further upgrades helped the team receive a wider window. “Oh God, how could we have been so stupid as not to see the path to follow sooner?” Allison said during the Canadian GP.
Mercedes wasn’t the only team to suffer problems with aerodynamics following an upgrade. Ferrari too, has become victims of the same. This is why, they too, could be seen fielding a car with a bulge on its nose in the coming weeks.
