Revealed: Mercedes Upgrades to Struggling W13 F1 Challenger Amidst Growing Lewis Hamilton Concerns

Mercedes had another poor week this season. They managed to get a top 10 finish in Imola with George Russell, but Lewis Hamilton couldn’t even get into the top 10 and finished P13. The Mercedes duo has been talking about the troublesome car since the Bahrain race. But after the Imola race, Mercedes revealed their upgrade package.

The 2022 challenger was struggling with a lot of aerodynamic issues which have been causing a lot of porpoising and drag on the Silver Arrows cars. According to the trackside engineering director of Mercedes, Andrew Shovlin, the Brackley base is working on a new vane to decrease the drag and for more downforce.

The German constructor is also going to introduce upgrades for the mirror and the shroud around it to improve the airflow. The current body design is leading to a lot of poor airflow on the car, which is generating a lot of drag.

Shovlin also revealed developments for upgrades for the floor and the back of the rear tire’s flick. Further, the changes in these two parts are going to be so minimal that it would be hard to notice. These changes will get a bit more outwash to the W13.

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The last upgrade for the car is going to be the car’s lower deflector. He also revealed that it is the most sensitive part of the car and it goes through the most upgrades during a season.

Mercedes boss apologizes to Lewis Hamilton for Imola

The seven-time world champion had the worst race this season at the Imola. He finished p13 in the Sunday race. However, he gained a position in the race but lost them after his pit lane incident with Esteban Ocon. Lewis Hamilton also has to face a blue flag for none other than his 2021 title rival Max Verstappen, who was leading the race and eventually won it.

The team principal Toto Wolff apologized to his star driver for not delivering a competitive car. Wolff said, “Lewis, hi, sorry for what you have needed to drive today. I know that this is undrivable and not what we deserved to score as a result.”

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But the seven-time world champion stood by his team and replied, “No worries, Toto. Let’s keep working hard.”

The next race for the Silver Arrows will be the Miami GP. It would be fascinating to see if the new upgrades would help Lewis Hamilton in the inaugural race in the US.