Why Mercedes is suddenly an F1 frontrunner again
Summary
TLDRMercedes' unexpected strong performance at the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix marks a significant turnaround from a challenging start to the season. George Russell's pole position and podium finish, along with the team's improved competitiveness, suggest Mercedes is overcoming past weaknesses with new front wing and floor upgrades. Despite Lewis Hamilton's disappointing qualifying, the team's progress is promising, with rivals taking notice and anticipation growing for their potential return to form.
Takeaways
- 🏎️ Mercedes had a poor start to the 2024 season but achieved a significant turnaround with a podium finish at the Canadian Grand Prix.
- 🌧️ Rainy conditions in Canada played to Mercedes' advantage, disrupting practice sessions and affecting the usual pecking order.
- 💨 George Russell secured a shock pole position and finished third, showing Mercedes' improved competitiveness.
- 🚫 Ferrari was notably absent from the race, and Red Bull was not in its comfort zone, allowing Mercedes to capitalize.
- 🔧 Mercedes made visible changes to its car, including a new front wing design that contributed to better performance.
- 📉 Mercedes struggled with a narrow setup window and under-steer issues earlier in the season, which they've been addressing.
- 🔄 The new front wing design helped Mercedes run with enough load and low enough to improve front-end grip without causing instability.
- 🛠️ Mercedes also made unseen floor modifications and other aerodynamic adjustments to improve the car's overall performance.
- 📈 The team's progress is not just about the front wing; it's part of a series of upgrades that have led to better handling and grip.
- 👨💼 Team principal Toto Wolff acknowledged Mercedes' improved understanding of the car after years of development challenges.
- 🔍 The upcoming race in Barcelona will be a crucial test to see if Mercedes can replicate its recent success on a more conventional circuit.
Q & A
How did Mercedes describe their start to the 2024 season?
-Mercedes described their start to the 2024 season as 'really embarrassingly crap'.
What was Mercedes' first achievement of the season mentioned in the script?
-Mercedes' first achievement of the season was securing a podium finish at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Who was the pole sitter and third place finisher for Mercedes at the Canadian Grand Prix?
-George Russell was the pole sitter and third place finisher for Mercedes at the Canadian Grand Prix.
What factors contributed to Mercedes' improved performance in Canada?
-Factors contributing to Mercedes' improved performance in Canada included intermittent rain disrupting practice sessions, Ferrari being out of the picture, and Red Bull not being in its comfort zone over the circuit's curbs.
How did Mercedes' front wing design evolve over the season?
-Mercedes initially had a unique front wing design with a reduced width of the top flap and a gap inboard either side of the nose. However, they later adopted a more conventional design with a straighter bottom edge to improve front-end grip and widen the car's operating window.
What was the initial problem with Mercedes' car that they aimed to address?
-The initial problem with Mercedes' car was a lack of rear-end stability at high speed, which they aimed to address by improving downforce on the rear.
How did Mercedes' understanding of the car evolve, leading to changes in the front wing design?
-Mercedes realized that a more conventional front wing design was necessary to feed energized airflow to the front of the underfloor and to run the car low enough to produce maximum downforce without creating excessive downforce in one area.
What was the significance of the changes made to the floor of the Mercedes car?
-The changes made to the floor of the Mercedes car, including modifications to the floor body and edges, were part of the essential changes to improve the car's performance, working in conjunction with the new front wing to provide a wider operating window and better grip.
How did the performance of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton differ in qualifying during the 2024 season?
-George Russell outperformed Lewis Hamilton in qualifying, with a record of 8-1 in favor of Russell on Saturdays in 2024.
What was Lewis Hamilton's self-assessment of his performance at the Canadian Grand Prix?
-Lewis Hamilton lamented his performance at the Canadian Grand Prix as one of his worst ever drives, indicating that he did not maximize the car's potential.
What does Mercedes need to do to ensure their improved performance is sustained?
-Mercedes needs to repeat their performance on more conventional circuits and prove that their recent progress is rooted in more than just the unique conditions of certain races, such as the rain-affected Canadian Grand Prix.
Outlines
🏎️ Mercedes' Unexpected Turnaround at the Canadian Grand Prix
Mercedes experienced a significant turnaround in the 2024 season, achieving its first podium with George Russell's pole position and third-place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix. Despite an initially poor performance, the team showed increasing competitiveness, capitalizing on factors such as rain-affected practice sessions and a less dominant Red Bull. The team's performance was attributed to a combination of improved aerodynamics, including a new front wing design that provided better balance and downforce, and a wider operating window for the car. Mercedes' progress was evident in the acceleration zone and the handling of the car in slow and fast corners. However, the team's performance was not consistent, with Lewis Hamilton struggling with disappointing qualifying results and self-critiqued driving. The improvements made to the car's front wing and floor upgrades were key to enhancing the car's grip and stability, suggesting that Mercedes may be on the right path to replicating this success in future races.
🔧 Mercedes' Technical Progress and Hamilton's Qualifying Struggles
Mercedes' progress in the 2024 season is not solely attributed to the front wing but also to other aerodynamic improvements, including a more controlled flexibility and wider floor upgrades. These changes have given the team a stronger front end and a better overall grip on the car, as noted by McLaren's team principal. Despite these advancements, Mercedes still faces challenges, particularly with Hamilton's qualifying performance, which has been overshadowed by Russell's. Hamilton's struggles continued at the Canadian Grand Prix, where he qualified seventh after a disappointing end to Q3. The reasons for Hamilton's performance issues varied, including different tire conditions and potential overdriving on corner entry. Despite the setbacks, Hamilton acknowledged his responsibility in the outcome and the impact on the race results. The team's improved performance offers motivation for Hamilton to make small but crucial adjustments to his approach, which could lead to better qualifying results and a stronger position in future races.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Mercedes
💡Canadian Grand Prix
💡Podium
💡George Russell
💡Rain-hit race
💡Ferrari
💡Red Bull
💡Front Wing
💡Downforce
💡Lewis Hamilton
💡Qualifying
Highlights
Mercedes experienced an embarrassing start to the 2024 season but managed a turnaround with its first podium in the Canadian Grand Prix.
George Russell secured a shock pole position and finished third, contributing to Mercedes' season-best performance in a rain-affected race.
Mercedes showed increasing competitiveness in recent races, building hopes for overcoming the challenges of the current era.
Ferrari's absence and Red Bull's discomfort on the circuit played into Mercedes' favor in Canada.
Mercedes and Red Bull had identical lap times in qualifying, indicating a close match in performance.
The differences in car performance between Mercedes and Red Bull could be attributed to wing levels and gearing choices.
Mercedes' improved performance is linked to changes in the front wing design, moving away from a unique concept to a more conventional one.
Mercedes' new front wing design contributes to a wider operating window and better front-end grip.
Mercedes has made progress in understanding and addressing the weaknesses identified from the previous year.
The team has made aerodynamic improvements beyond the front wing, including unseen floor modifications and body changes.
Mercedes' performance in Montreal was its fastest over a single lap, noted by rival team principals.
Mercedes' progress feels more rooted and real than previous breakthroughs, according to George Russell.
The upcoming race in Barcelona will be a significant test for Mercedes to prove the sustainability of its recent performance.
Lewis Hamilton's qualifying performance has been inconsistent compared to his teammate George Russell in 2024.
Hamilton acknowledged his responsibility in his disappointing grid position and the impact on the race outcome.
Mercedes' improved performance provides motivation for Hamilton to make small improvements in qualifying.
Transcripts
given Mercedes had a self-described
really embarrassingly crap start to 2024
it's a hell of a turnaround for us to be
asking should it have won the Canadian
Grand Prix after toiling in the early
races Mercedes has now capped a run of
increasingly encouraging performances
with its first Podium of the Season
shock pole sitter and third place
finisher George Russell who fought for
victory for much of this rain hit race
admitted the team's season best
performance seemed to come a bit from
nowhere in Montreal but it wasn't
entirely a bolt from the BL Mercedes had
already shown signs of Greater
competitiveness in recent races building
hopes it might be getting on top of this
Ru era after all yes there were factors
in Canada that went in Mercedes favor as
intermittent Rain Led to disrupted
practice sessions and a slightly jumbled
pecking order part of that was Monaco
winner Ferrari being out of the picture
entirely and Red Bull not being quite in
its comfort zone over the curbs of this
circuit yet in any other race this
season it would not have been Mercedes
being primed to take advantage it's
didn't even have a Podium before this
weekend let alone look like it might
fight for victory but that's exactly
what it did and to be honest the Canada
weekend looked different from the start
Lewis Hamilton looked particularly on it
in practice then Russell took charge
going quickest in qualifying for his
first poll in two years this meant the
Mercedes was a match for Red Bull for
the second time in two races as remember
Russell beat Max V stappen in Monaco
here it was literally a match as they
set identical lap times in qualifying
even though V stappen went on to win the
Grand Prix in that Saturday Dead Heat
the two cars did their times very
differently the Mercedes eased clear of
the red bolt in the acceleration Zone
from the slow corners while the Red Bull
was quicker going into those Corners
some of those differences could just be
the chosen Wing levels for each car as
the Red Bull appeared to be carrying
more downforce but it could also be the
Mercedes slightly shorter gearing is
better suited to punching it out of
these particular Corners inevitably
circuit characteristics and the
suitability of them to these two cars
were massive factors Red Bull reckoned
the low grip track caused by so much
rain also favored Mercedes but again a
track suiting Mercedes and not suiting
Red Bull earlier in the season would
definitely not have led to Russell
leading the first stint and fighting in
the lead group to the end the only
question is whether or not more could
have been achieved Russell seemed to
overuse his intermediates early on which
eventually cost him vital track position
and he also made a mistake later in the
race that dropped him behind mcclaren's
Lando Norris as well Hamilton probably
did the better job of the two in the
race but he was too far out of the
picture from the start because of a
disappointing qualifying and he actually
lamented his performance as one of his
worst ever drives that was probably an
exaggeration but this was definitely not
a Grand Prix Iva driver could be said to
have maximized which means something was
left on the table on the day Mercedes
had its best opportunity of the year as
Hamilton said the car was capable of
winning even though Mercedes boss Toto
wolf played down whether it truly had
the pace to so given how bad the season
started how did Mercedes get into this
position and can it be replicated in
future
races the most obvious change Mercedes
has made visually to its car lately is
to its front Wing Russell ran it in
Monaco when there was only one available
but in Canada Hamilton had it too if you
think back to the beginning of the
season the unique Mercedes front Wing
design was a big talking point Mercedes
effectively reduced the width of the top
flap by having a gap inboard either side
of the nose connected by a narrow strip
of carbon fiber to satisfy the
regulations that front wi concept is now
consigned to history it would be easy to
condemn that design as a mistake but it
wasn't early in the year it was a
performance gain but as Mercedes
understanding evolved it realized a more
conventional design was the way to go
and that's all because of the weaknesses
Mercedes has gradually worked through
last year the big problem was a lack of
rear- end stability at high speed so a
key development objective was to improve
the downforce on the rear as part of
that the front Wing design was conceived
to as Mercedes technical director James
Allison puts it inject some Vigor
Downstream which means to feed energized
air flow to the front of the underfloor
but improving that rear end instability
wasn't just about that the front wings
of these cars can themselves be very
powerful in ground effect ideally you
want to run the cars low to produce
maximum downforce but if you have the
front Wing too low you end up creating
excessive downforce in one area pinning
the front of the car and creating a big
imbalance hence it made sense to reduce
the load of the front Wing a little by
cutting back that top flap the trouble
that Mercedes has battled this year is
that the setup window of the car is too
narrow and often that's meant
problematic under steer in slow Corners
if corrective action was taken to change
that it led to the return of rear end
instability at high speed this new front
Wing has been part of the solution it
also has a straighter bottom Edge and
that appears to play a part in it being
able to run with enough load and low
enough to give good front end in the
slow corners without getting too low in
the fast stuff as the downforce builds
and part of the re Reon this works
appears to be that Mercedes has made
gains in terms of adding controlled
flexibility to the wing that's something
rival teams have clearly been ahead on
as after all while aerodynamic Parts
have to be rigid nothing can be 100%
rigid so this is an important art in
F1 but Mercedes progress is not just
about the front Wing there's more to it
than that it is of course one of the
essential changes but it works with the
wider floor upgrades and there have been
hints of forward momentum in the race is
leading up to Canada indicating that
Mercedes finally does seem to know what
it's doing in Miami there were
modifications to the floor body
including an important change that we
can't see to the floor roof volume and
changes to the floor edges at IMA
further tweaks were made to the floor to
build on that then the front Wing
followed in Monaco and the upshot is a
car that now runs low and has a wider
operating window team principal Toto
wolf says Mercedes now has a grip on the
car after more than 2 years of what he's
called zigzagging and in Montreal the
Mercedes was the fastest car over one
lap as McLaren team principal Andreas
Stella said Mercedes now has such a
strong front end that the drivers barely
need to turn the wheel to get the nose
in the corner speed range in Montreal is
small so let's hold off on being too
definitive especially as in the past
Mercedes has tricked itself and us with
all manner of for Thorns going all the
way back to its first relatively strong
weekend of this rule Zer in Spain 2022
only the sixth round of that season it's
never been sustained but now Rivals are
sitting up and taking notice and when we
asked Russell after qualifying if this
progress feels rooted in something more
real than the previous breakthroughs his
answer was an emphatic yes 100% Mercedes
now really does seem to know what it's
doing and be on the right path it's
going to need to repeat this kind of
performance on more conventional
circuits and Barcelona next up will be a
big test there is still much to prove to
make this performance a regular
occurrence again but whisper it quietly
Mercedes just might be
back the main downside for Mercedes in
Canada was that it didn't have both cars
in the lead fight from the start after
Hamilton yet again faded late in
qualifying he was bumped from second to
a very disappointing seventh at the end
of Q3 which left him running a very
different race to Russell qualifying
continued Hamilton's poor runner form
relative to his teammate it's now 8-1
Russell on Saturdays in 2024 and there
have been different reasons for that
most recently Russell had a faster tpck
in Monaco with the new front wing and
had probably underperformed there in
practice both had the same upgrades in
Canada but again Russell was weaker in
practice learned key tie preparation
lessons from Hamilton's data and
improved while Hamilton made some small
mistakes in Q3 the track was getting
slower in qualifying the wind picked up
and the tires weren't quite in the same
happy place in the changing conditions
so Hamilton was neither quite as
comfortable in the car nor with the
margin of error he had previously but
the pace was there the the execution was
just slightly lacking as he made small
mistakes on both his Q3 laps Hamilton
also seemed to be consistently breaking
later than russle and losing time on
Corner exit which indicates he was
asking a bit too much of the car on
Corner entry possibly Based On A Feeling
from practice that was no longer there
while Russell was a bit more in tune to
what the car needed come qualifying a
couple of weeks ago in Monaco Hamilton
seemed to imply he's being held back
against Russell and claimed he doesn't
expect to beat Russell in qualifying
again this year
the suggestion that performance comes
away from Hamilton's cast specifically
was inevitably inferred as Hamilton
being undermined in some way given he's
leaving Mercedes at the end of the year
to join Ferrari it's hardly unusual for
a driver on the receiving end of
consistent narrow defeats to get a
little bit paranoid wondering why it's
always them but maybe we need to invoke
aam's Razer that the simplest
explanation is likely the correct one
and that is that it would make little
sense for Mercedes to deliberately hold
back one of its drivers and that Russell
just been faster when it's counted
Hamilton's accountability after the race
in Canada suggests he knows this is the
case he accepted he was primarily
responsible for his disappointed grid
position rather than other factors and
he knows the impact that had on a Grand
Prix with big opportunities the silver
lining for Hamilton is as he said this
Mercedes is clearly becoming a car we
can fight with for him personally the
pace is there to match or beat Russell
on Saturdays and his Sunday performances
are not really an issue what Hamilton
needs in his own words is to get his
head on right taking responsibility for
his qualifying results is already a step
towards achieving that because nothing
good will come from assuming he can't
beat Russell on Saturdays or Worse
believing that something is going on to
affect that and there's obvious
motivation to take from Mercedes
improved performance as Hamilton can
start to believe that there are bigger
results to grab if he makes what are
ultimately very small improvements in
qualifying
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