Andrew Shovlin says F1 US GP will be the final step in their aero development as he hopes of some performance benefit but won’t predict where they will be.
For last seasons constructors’ champions Mercedes, they now have four races remaining to earn their opening win of the 2022 campaign. An indifferent start, getting to grips with new rules, they have weathered the storm and are now in with an outside chance of second place in the standings, however, they really need to win at least three of the remaining Grands Prix starting at COTA next Sunday, a circuit they have won at five times.
Some circuits they have been suited to of late and others not so. It has been a step by step process for Mercedes with an eye on the 2023 campaign too. It’s difficult to say where they will be in Texas but Shovlin throw light on it as he adds the grand prix being their final step in the aero development for the 2022 season.
“It’s our final step of aero development and that will hopefully give us a bit more performance but importantly with every step, we are learning more and more and that learning we can carry into next year,” said Shovlin. “So that’s part of it, also there is a few bits where we have taken some weight out of components that will hopefully get the car closer to the weight limit”.
“It’s very difficult for us to predict where we are going to be”. As per the top, it has been a learning curve for Mercedes from day one. Over the second part of the season they are almost ‘there’ in terms of speed and have turned in some fantastic performances.
Having said that, there has been a small amount of inconsistency at times but could also be due to the terrain of the circuits. “In Singapore Lewis was awfully close to pole position, yet in Suzuka both cars had a big gap to the front,” said Shovlin. “Now, our race pace has been reasonably strong, so, if we can make a step hopefully, we can get into the fight with the Ferrari’s and the Red Bulls but qualifying for us is the really difficult one to predict at the moment”.
“But as I said a lot of it is about learning and we are certainly going to give it our best shot in the final four races,” summed up Shovlin. Mercedes have not given up at all and if anything as a team, their slip from the top of the tree has made them that bit hungrier. The track although popular with teams and drivers is a tough one to call.
Part of the circuit has undergone resurfacing since last seasons event. That will make a difference but Mercedes like other teams will not know where they stand until they arrive. “It’s a tricky circuit and it was a tricky circuit for us last year,” said Shovlin.
“It was very bumpy, there was a lot of overheating as well from the tyres and we weren’t performing as well as Red Bull were on the softer tyres. They have done some resurfacing so hopefully those issues with the bumps are a bit less but what’s very hard this year is to really know where you are going to be on the circuit before you’ve gone there and as I said in a previous answer, a lot of it is about learning”.
“We will not really be going to make any predictions about where we are going to perform, we just need to go there on Friday, see what kind of issues we have and then see whether we can solve those with setup,” summed up Shovlin.
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