Mercedes appears to be on the verge of overcoming a challenge it has faced since the introduction of Formula 1’s new ground effect regulations two years ago, according to recent testing outcomes in Bahrain.
After being a strong contender for the title in 2021, the team has since struggled, often finding itself leading the group trailing behind Red Bull, with only one grand prix win in the past two years.
Around this time last year, Mercedes came to the realization that its decision to continue with its 2022 design into 2023 was a mistake, prompting a strategic pivot over the past year towards a new design philosophy.
The W15 represents this fresh approach, and initial feedback from three days of testing has been promising, though it is still not expected to outperform Red Bull.
Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin shared his optimism about the developments, stating, “We’ve managed to make good progress understanding the W15, compared to last year’s car, the feedback from the drivers is very different and more positive, which is encouraging.
“The team has worked hard to iron out the handling flaws that were integral to the W14, and it’s great that we seem to have put a number of those problems behind us.”
“Over the course of the test, we’ve made good steps on our understanding of the car. The task of the next few days is to pick through the results and put together the best package to take into the race weekend.
“It’s never easy to make predictions on pace from testing, as all teams are quite effective at hiding their pace when they want to.
It’s clear that we are in a much better position than 12 months ago though.”
Mercedes’ performance in terms of lap times during the test sessions was somewhat underwhelming, with George Russell’s fastest lap falling slightly short of Charles Leclerc’s benchmark on day three, and notably slower than Carlos Sainz’s top time of the test.
The general consensus within the paddock is that Mercedes has taken a slight step backward compared to last year, currently positioned as the third fastest team at best. The car’s performance on the track was inconsistent, with some runs appearing more problematic than others.
Nevertheless, the conclusion of this week’s testing brought the team’s most positive pre-season evaluation in the current regulatory era. Despite managing expectations, there’s a sense that Mercedes may be on the cusp of the significant progress it has sought for the past two years.
Acknowledging the need for further improvements was expected, especially following a substantial redesign of the car.
It would have been overly optimistic to assume that Mercedes’ initial design for this new era would immediately match the performance of a Red Bull car that has not only evolved from its already dominant form but has also seen significant enhancements.
The tendency of Mercedes’ previous designs to be difficult to handle has been a notable challenge, but it’s promising that Shovlin believes the W15 has overcome many of these issues.
Both he and Russell have observed that the team is in a much stronger position than it was a year ago, and Hamilton’s enthusiastic commendation of the testing phase as “a really good test” and “massively encouraging” underscores this sentiment.
This is in spite of the fact that at the same moment, “we know we’ve got work to do and we’re not yet where we want to be”.
Why is it that two seemingly contradictory assessments can both be accurate? The explanation lies in the fact that Mercedes evaluates the W15 on more than just outright performance and its immediate ranking within the competition.
For Mercedes, the priority was to create a viable foundation from which further development could occur. The achievement of this goal is noteworthy.
This is the reason behind the favorable evaluation, despite acknowledging that the current iteration of the W15 is not yet where it needs to be.
