Mercedes have been fairly dominant on new Formula 1 circuits in the turbo hybrid era, but winning the Miami GP seems unlikely.
After eight years of dominance, Mercedes are finally facing performance related issues. They’ve won every single Title between 2014 and 2021 other than the last year’s Drivers’ Championship.
Ahead of the new technical regulations this year, many expected them to continue with winning ways. However, they’ve ha an incredibly tough start to the year. In particular, seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton hasn’t gotten up to speed in his W13.
Mercedes have been their absolute best at new circuits in the turbo-hybrid era.
Next target – Miami. 🎯🇺🇸#F1 #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/52hzTTMD50
— F1 StatsGuru (@f1statsguru) May 2, 2022
Russell has been more consistent, but in terms of pace they are miles behind Ferrari and Red Bull. They’re third in the Constructors’ Championship standings, 36 points behind Red Bull.
If statistics are taken into account, Mercedes have a great shot at winning the Miami GP. Since 2014, F1 has raced in six different new circuits and the Brackley based team emerged victorious in all of them. Will we see the same in Miami this weekend?
Toto Wolff relying on a four way crash between Ferrari and Red Bull
— sominslc (@sominslc1) May 2, 2022
Between 2014-2021, they’ve had a Championship winning car at their disposal. So even if the record is in their favor, it seems unlikely that they’ll leave Miami with a win, unless we’re in for a real shock.
Mercedes’ 2022 slump is not due to team’s lack of ideas, says Toto Wolff
Team principal Toto Wolff has been under a lot of pressure lately. They’re a team that has been on top of F1 for eight consecutive years, so most of them aren’t used to not winning.
As of now, they’re barely competing for podiums. The only two podiums they’ve had this season came because of Red Bull cars retiring. One of the main issues plaguing the W13’s performance has been the porposing. It’s something almost all teams have experienced, and the Silver Arrows are finding it difficult to counter.
Despite these problems, Wolff remains adamant that the troubles aren’t due to lack of effort. Instead, he talks about how personnel changes have finally caught up with them.
“It’s just the normal cycle,” he said. “Ross Brawn left, then Paddy Lowe left. We won six championships after that, or seven. Then James Allison came in, and there’s a lot of others who aren’t front and center. Then Andy Cowell retired.”
“But meanwhile, all the young guys are coming up, and they’ve been the decision-makers at the operational level time and time again, as far as the cars in the last few years are concerned,” Wolff stated.
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