Mercedes F1 Contradicts Major Claims Surrounding 2022 Challengers

The hype surrounding the 2022 Formula One season is persistently on the rise amid the incoming regulation changes. Former Mercedes and Brawn GP boss Ross Brawn managed to use all of his experience to alter the regulations in a way that the cars can compete on equal grounds with better overtaking opportunities. So, how will the changes work out in reality? Well, Mercedes F1 technical director Mike Elliott has the answer.

Elliott, who is quite busy with getting the W13 ready for the winter testing, managed to find time to shed light on the regulation changes. The British aerodynamicist opined that the 2022 F1 cars will be on par with the 2021 cars in terms of performance.

What did Mike Elliott say?

As reported by Formula Passion, Elliott opened up that the soon-to-be-revealed Mercedes W13 might not differ too much from the championship-winning W12.

“The overall performance of the new cars will probably not be very different from what they have been in the past. Obviously, the intention of these regulations was to improve overtaking. But, it will take some time before we can see if the goal has been achieved,” he said.

However, he did admit that the abundant tweaks to the set-up and the fuel composition (E10 fuel comprising 10% bio component) may force the cars to behave quite erratically during the early part of the 2022 season.

“The car is a little heavier, the power unit with E10 fuel will behave slightly differently, the aerodynamics and set-up will also be different,” the Briton added.

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Tough season ahead for Mercedes?

Not at all! There were rumors that suggested Mercedes had failed their ‘side crash test’ much like Red Bull’s frontal crash test. However, hardly a day later, the affirmation arrived that there is no such crash test in the FIA’s rules of homologation.

Yes, Mercedes do have a series of pending tests to complete in order to receive the FIA’s approval. But, they haven’t failed in any of them so far. Hence, it has been a peaceful and a rather safe journey for the Silver Arrows prior to the start of what could be one of the most unpredictable seasons in a decade.

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