Wednesday, December 11, 2024

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Mercedes targets F1 fees by 'abusing' automobile into becoming 'driver's friend'

The Brackley-based team enjoyed a rather more fruitful Canadian Grand Prix in comparison with other races this campaign, with George Russell securing pole position before ending third, one place ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes' cause in Montreal was helped by the recently resurfaced track surface, which gave the team a smooth platform to establish their automobile – a typical theme on various track layouts over the past two-and-a-half seasons.

While steps have been taken to expand the operational potential of its machines, Allison suggested a variety of latest parts be introduced in the longer term to 'give shape' to the automobile.

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“The changes we have made make this a better car and that will be true at every track we go to,” he explained.

“Montreal's characteristics make it look somewhat faster than we have now a natural right to command within the upcoming races. I believe in Barcelona we usually tend to be competitive, but not in first place because the subsequent tracks are a bit tougher to check the automobile. Hot asphalt, higher speeds on corners.

“But I also know what awaits us. I also know what we plan to enhance the automobile much more.

“Our challenge is simply to ensure that improvements are made at a pace that others can't keep up with, and in doing so, we simply push our car forward thanks to the efforts that everyone here has made over the coming weeks and months to get the car to could survive a weekend in Montreal or better at any track we face in the future.”

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo: Zak Mauger / Motorsport images

One of the important thing problems with each of the three cars developed by Mercedes so far under F1's ground effect regulations was that they’d only a narrow operating window to attain optimal performance. But Allison finds herself beginning to wonder about it.

“I think we've expanded that [the window] basically,” he insisted.

“There remains to be lots to do and we’ll see that once we go to the subsequent track, which is Barcelona, ​​since the cornering conditions are really very different.

“It's also a much warmer track, so it will be quite a severe test of the vehicle.”

The fundamental element of the improved form was the brand new front wing added to the W15, which is a more conventional design in comparison with the primary version this season, and whether it performed as expected, Allison said: “I’d say yes.

“We had an idea how it could behave because within the previous race in Monaco we had only done it with George. We had two of those players in Montreal and we expected him to do well.

“We expected him to deliver somewhat more in Canada than in Monaco since the track in Canada, although unusual, is a more normal track than it was in Monaco.

“It provided greater performance, made the car easy to drive, well balanced and made the car a friend to the driver rather than something he struggled with, which was a problem in the first part of the season for us.”

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