Mercedes is struggling to understand the W15
Mercedes finds itself in a perplexing situation, grappling with a mysterious performance deficit in high-speed corners that has compromised their start to the 2024 Formula 1 season, leaving the team scrambling for answers.
High-speed corner
Mercedes' hopes of closing the gap to Red Bull in 2024 have been dampened by a baffling issue that plagues their W15 car in high-speed corners.
Despite improvements in other areas, the team is losing significant time due to a combination of bouncing, loss of downforce, and grip in these high-speed sections.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes' Team Principal, acknowledged the problem, stating,
"We are quick everywhere else pretty much... But it's just at high speed where we're losing all the lap time."
Data analysis
GPS data from qualifying in Saudi Arabia reveals the stark contrast between the W15's performance in high-speed corners compared to its predecessor, the W14.
Despite the overall progress made, the 2024 car is noticeably slower through the high-speed Turn 4 to Turn 8 complex, costing George Russell around 0.130 seconds in this short sequence alone.
Conversely, the W15 excels in top speed and medium/low-speed corners, highlighting where Mercedes' focus should lie.
Unexplained phenomenon
Perplexingly, the on-track behavior of the W15 does not align with Mercedes' simulations and simulator data, leaving the team baffled.
The unpredictable loss of grip, exacerbated by bouncing and oversteer on low fuel, has proven difficult to trace back to a specific cause.
Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes' Trackside Engineering Director, admitted,
"There's more fuel on the car. You're going a bit slower."
"And that seemed to calm down and wasn't such an issue. And then the big one is we don't really have enough grip there."
Weekend pace fluctuations
Adding to the complexity, the W15's pace relative to its competitors fluctuates throughout a race weekend.
While the car performs well on Fridays, its pace appears to drop away as the track rubbers in, a trend that puzzles George Russell.
"FP1 straight out of the box, we were top of the timesheets and always in the top three. FP2, P2."
"Then both weekends, the pace just falling away from us. "
"That hasn't been our competitors getting faster, that's been us getting slower. So, we need to understand why that is."
Experiments in Melbourne
With Albert Park's high-speed Turn 7 to Turn 9/10 chicane mirroring the W15's trouble areas, Mercedes is preparing "experiments" for the upcoming Australian Grand Prix.
One potential test involves reverting to the Bahrain test-spec floor to identify any unintended consequences of their race one upgrade.
As the team continues to search for answers, the pressure mounts to address this perplexing high-speed deficit and unlock the W15's true potential.
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