Mercedes

Listen to this article Mercedes failed to regularly challenge Red Bull and Ferrari at the front of the pack through the first half of this season as it struggled with porpoising and bouncing on its W13 car. The team opted for a different design route compared to the rest of the field, chasing a slimline sidepod solution that was dubbed the 'zeropod' when it debuted in Bahrain testing. As the season progressed, Mercedes gained a better understanding of its car and the issues it faced, paving the way for George Russell to score pole in Hungary at the end of July. Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin explained Mercedes was "not wanting to go down the route of just copying the fastest car that we could see", instead taking a long-term view with its car concept. "When you look at the long-term future as a team through a set of regulations, if you don't understand it, copying will only get you so far," Shovlin told Motorsport.com. "The most sensitive … [Read more...] about Why Mercedes steered clear of an F1 car concept revamp despite early struggles

Mercedes cannot “cry and sulk” about the performance of the W13 as that will not make it go any faster, George Russell points out. With all-new technical regulations on the horizon, Formula 1 managing director Ross Brawn warned last year one team could get it wrong. Nobody thought that team would be Mercedes. While their W13 is not exactly wrong per se, it is the car that bounced the most in the early part of the championship which forced Mercedes to sacrifice downforce in order to minimise the bouncing. The team reckon they are on top of that in the last few races, with trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin saying it is “no longer” an issue . The next task Mercedes face is recovering the lost downforce and finding a way to do that without re-igniting the porpoising. Russell has backed the Brackley squad to get it right. “You can’t cry and sulk about the overall performance,” he told the BBC . “That wouldn’t be productive and it wouldn’t go any … [Read more...] about George Russell: Crying and sulking won’t make the car go faster

Toto Wolff has laughed off Christian Horner’s accusation that he has been lobbying the FIA to change the rules in Mercedes’ favour, saying the Red Bull boss is “just bored”. There is no love lost between Wolff and Horner, especially after last year’s ferocious championship fight. Their fraught relationship continued into this season, this time the team bosses arguing over porpoising with the FIA set to change the rules after Mercedes had urged them to intervene, citing driver safety. Horner feels Mercedes should fix their own problems – after all, Red Bull’s RB18 barely suffers with any bouncing unlike its Mercedes counterpart. The Red Bull team boss accused Wolff of lobbying the FIA . “I think there’s an awful lot of lobbying to change regulations significantly for next year so a certain team can run its car lower and benefit from that concept,” Horner told Sky Sports. Wolff has shrugged this off, saying every team try to sway the FIA to their way of … [Read more...] about Toto Wolff: So Christian Horner doesn’t do any lobbying?

Listen to this article Ferrari bounced back from two difficult years to return to race-winning form in 2022, scoring a 1-2 at the opening race in Bahrain and three further victories in the first half of the season. A key factor in Ferrari's return to form has been its engine gains, which helped the team make up a big performance gap to the Mercedes , Honda and Renault-powered cars from the past couple of years. While it was difficult to know just how good the F1-75 car was until the opening race of the season, the engine numbers coming out of Maranello indicated Ferrari had made a big step forward - beyond anything Binotto had seen before. "We had some more clarity on the power unit, yes, because we knew where we were on the power unit, the regulations were consistent," Binotto told Motorsport.com in an interview. "On the power unit, we set big numbers in terms of objectives. And what I've seen that we have been capable of developing during last season for 2022 on … [Read more...] about Ferrari’s F1 2022 engine gains greatest for more than 25 years

Max Verstappen says unlike some of his rivals he doesn’t have an issue with brake dust being blown into his face, but that’s thanks largely to the design of his RB18. Sebastian Vettel raised the issue after the Austrian Grand Prix as the four-time World Champion climbed out of his AMR22 to face the cameras with his face covered in black dust. He revealed it was the brake dust coming off his front brakes . He told Sky F1: “To be honest with you, that’s something I think they need to work on because you know, where the design of the brake ducts [is] this year, the front axle is blowing all the brake dust into our faces – and it’s not good. Obviously, carbon dust is not really something healthy to breathe in.” But while it is a problem for Aston Martin, Verstappen says he hasn’t experienced it with Red Bull which he puts down to the design of the front brakes. “Just depends how you design your drums, basically,” he said as per GPFans. “Some have it designed in a way … [Read more...] about Max Verstappen avoids brake dust problems thanks to Red Bull design

Toto Wolff “loves” how Formula 1’s social conscience has riled older fans over the last decade, from going green to taking a knee. Formula 1 courted controversy amongst its fans when, in 2013, the sport bade farewell to the old-school 2.4 litre V8 engines to welcome hybrid technology. Introducing 1.6-litre V6 hybrid engines that incorporated energy recovery systems the following season, the sport took its first of many steps towards becoming greener. Since then, F1 has announced sustainability plans to have a net-zero carbon footprint by 2030. Naysayers said at the time the quieter power units would be the end of Formula 1, but instead the sport’s following has grown in the last 10 years. In 2020, the drivers began to take a knee in a worldwide fight against racism and discrimination, while this year they have adopted a new campaign called ‘Drive It Out’ in response to increasing incidents of abuse online and at events. That, coupled with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and … [Read more...] about Toto Wolff ‘loves’ that F1 legacy fans ‘hate’ new direction of the sport

The DTM finale at Hockenheim on 8-9 October will mark the German's last race with the team, having been active with it since 2011. Having made appearances in the DTM for the manufacturer in 2016, he was given a permanent seat for the 2017 season, taking the title in his rookie season. Within four years, Rast won the championship title three times with Audi Sport Team Rosberg, winning 24 races and taking 20 pole positions. After moving to Formula E for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, Rast made his DTM comeback this season with Team ABT Sportsline and is currently third in the standings as the best Audi driver. He said the decision came with "a heavy heart" but added he "still has a few goals in motorsport that I want to achieve." Rast said: "This decision was anything but easy for me. Audi has been my life over the past few years. We've worked fantastically together and celebrated many great successes. "I'll never forget these moments, nor the many great people who … [Read more...] about Rast announces shock departure from Audi Sport

The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council has today approved the first draft of the new Formula 1 power unit regulations due to come into effect in 2026. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The 2026 F1 season will see the introduction of a new power unit formula – the first since the FIA introduced the current V6 turbo hybrid engines that are still in place today back in 2014. The revised power units will increase the electrical power generated by up to 50% over current levels, with the FIA claiming the power units will maintain “similar performance” to existing engines. The power unit introduced for the 2026 season will continue to use the current 1.6 litre V6 internal combustion engine, but with a decreased fuel flow limit that will produce around 400kW of power. The current MGU-H component of the hybrid system will be entirely removed, as expected, while the total power generated by the power unit’s energy recovery system (ERS) will increase to around 350kW. … [Read more...] about F1’s 2026 power unit regulations approved by FIA’s World Motor Sport Council · RaceFans

There’s always talk of which Formula 1 junior driver will be next in line for a promotion at their respective team, whether that be to a test, reverse or race driver role. And there is also plenty of attention drawn whenever juniors are dropped or part ways from their backers too. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Junior drivers don’t have to be realistic contenders for future F1 seats, they’re another tool in the marketing arsenal more than anything else (see Ferrari’s F1 struggles while their juniors swept everything before them). It’s only once you get to the highest level of junior single-seater racing when the expectation emerges to reward strong performances on track with F1 opportunities. Alpine have struggled in that regard with reigning Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri. His private F1 test programme initially happened only because a fellow junior driver’s finances enabled it, then his free practice debut was held back for so long that he’s now on his … [Read more...] about Academy outsiders – the best young drivers who lack F1 team backing · RaceFans