“We Know That We’ve Not Done a Good Enough Job”: Mercedes Make Gloomy F1 Confession While Contradictory Ambition Burns On

Mercedes F1 has been answerable quite frequently due to their shocking performance in 2022! Lewis Hamilton has particularly faced a tough time in the machinery trying to maneuver it for better results. Now, the technical team is answering every question honestly and realistically as to what has happened.

Early on during the pre-season testings, many believed that Mercedes were sandbagging. Fast forward to Round 9, and the team’s star driver Hamilton has not won a single race and suffers from back pain during races. The same W13, responsible for dropping jaws with its exceptional “podless” design, has now been called a “sh*t box” quite a few times on the radio.

Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes Trackside Engineer, weighed in on Red Bull comparisons and explained things. He admitted to maybe the Bulls having an advantage because of Adrian Newey and said, “The vast majority of those (engineers) wouldn’t have been working in that period (the early 80’s). And it may well be that has been an advantage that Red Bull have had with Adrian’s experience.”

“We know that we’ve not done a good enough job with the design of this car, with understanding these regulations. We’re working really hard to get back to where we need to. But for us, the important thing really is to find that development direction, that we can just keep putting performance on the car. And this team won’t have forgotten how to win…,” he further added.

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Red Bull has not really faced an issue with ‘porpoising’. Interpreting the rules just fine, they’ve managed a good run in the season, producing one of the top two fastest cars.

What happened to Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes F1 this year?

Why has Hamilton suffered more? The Briton has faced criticism for losing out to debutante teammate George Russell. The 24-year-old sits ahead of the seven-time world champion and seems more comfortable in the machinery.

Shovlin explained the reason behind it, “It’s a difficult balance because we were on the back foot at the start of the year and we needed to learn. You can’t learn without experimenting on the cars. And I think Lewis was unlucky, perhaps with the way some of those parts landed. “

“Because when we put them on the car, we don’t know which are the good ones, which are the bad ones. Some of what you’re doing at the track is to actually understand that. But the program at Silverstone is relatively straightforward…some very fast corners, we haven’t really had some very fast corners this year. We’ll just work on getting the most out of the car.” Clearly, they sound hopeful!

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However, these remarks are rather contradictory given their spearhead hopes for a good outing at British GP, while they admit to the job not being done properly.

But, with the bouncing reportedly sorted, what can we expect from the W13 now? Can Mercedes follow through with their enthusiasm? Can Lewis attain his form again?