Will Buxton, Formula 1 commentator, has expressed concerns over the new upgrade package from Mercedes, stating that team principal Toto Wolff suspects that significant changes to the floor and sidepods could have cost up to half a second in lap time.
The Brackley outfit introduced significant upgrades at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. These modifications, which affected nearly all surfaces of the car, aimed to improve aerodynamic efficiency at medium and high speeds.
Although expectations were high for the weekend at the Sepang International Circuit, Kimi Antonelli and George Russell qualified in third and seventh positions, respectively. The Italian finished second, while Russell retired due to a power unit issue.
In an interview on the podcast Up To Speed, Buxton questioned whether the technical update is faulty or simply affected by the specific track conditions in Malaysia. “Obviously, the DNF is something that is out of their control, but Mercedes never seemed to be in the fight,” Buxton said.
“They had a great upgrade. It’s a case, and I suppose we will only know this weekend, whether the upgrade didn’t work or if it was circumstantial to the track and they didn’t get the results they wanted?”
“For those who don’t know, major updates in areas like the floor and sides could provide a bit more downforce, which meant they might have lost a little straight-line speed but should have compensated in the corners. They expected to gain about three tenths. As it stands, Toto thinks they might have lost around four or five tenths.
“So it’s not a gain, potentially a loss. I think they will perform comparative tests in Singapore between the old specification and the new, but there will only be one practice session because it’s a sprint weekend.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
