Mercedes has struggled to compete in Formula 1 since the departure of Lewis Hamilton, who brought massive success to the German team in his stint with the iconic team. Hamilton became the most decorated Formula 1 driver thanks to his amazing performances with Mercedes. Once we knew that he would be leaving Mercedes, questions began to arise about how Mercedes would deal with his departure. They replaced Hamilton with the teenager Kimi Antonelli, who has the potential to grow in the Mercedes car despite his limited experience.
Mercedes hopes to challenge once the summer break ends
Former champions Mercedes hope to be challenging for wins again when they return from Formula One’s August break after binning a rear suspension upgrade that made the car slower. The upgrade was introduced at Imola in May after George Russell had finished in the top three in four of the first six races. The Briton finished only seventh in that Italian race, and Mercedes dropped the upgrade for the next two rounds before bringing it back for Canada, a race Russell won.
That proved misleading, and Russell struggled in the following four races until Mercedes reverted to the old package for Hungary last weekend and he finished third. Rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli was also back in the points at the Hungaroring, finishing 10th after three races without scoring. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said the upgrade would “be ending up in a bin somewhere.
“We were misled a bit by the Montreal win… we came to the conclusion it needed to come off, it went off and the car’s back to solid form,” – Mercedes boss Toto Wolff
The Hungarian Grand Prix was a learning experience for Mercedes
Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said in a Hungarian GP debrief on Wednesday that the car was now easier to work with and the drivers more confident in attacking the corners. Something that has been a problem for the German giant this season. Shovlin stated that the team gained some crucial information in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
“If we make a new suspension, we’re doing it to make the car go quicker… and clearly there’s something that wasn’t right, and it’s not something that was dead obvious. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had the issue in the first place. We had a great time in Montreal. There’s other circuits that are a bit more like that coming up over the remaining 10 races, and hopefully we’ll have a few more highlights.” – Mercedes Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin
Shovlin said the learning would help Russell in his battle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for third place overall behind the McLaren drivers, and Mercedes chasing second in the constructors’. “Budapest showed that we’ve got a good car when we land it in the right place,” said Shovlin. “And then hopefully there’ll be an opportunity to build on our tally of race wins.” Mercedes will be looking to contend with McLaren, which recently got their 200th win in F1.
Can Mercedes actually turn this season around in Formula 1
The changes taking place in Formula 1 are both exciting and worrying at the same time. The dismissal of Christian Horner at Red Bull Racing shocked the racing fraternity as nobody saw it coming. Ferrari has doubled down on their future by giving their team boss a new contract, despite the team’s poor performances this season. So Mercedes has a lot of ground to make up once the summer break ends and the drivers return to their respective teams. By dropping the suspension upgrade, Mercedes claims they are ready to gain some points once the season gets back to action.
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