During the summer period, Mercedes has never been so successful since the new 2022 regulations. Between the Canadian and Belgian Grand Prix, the silver arrows have racked up a total of six podiums, including three victories, two for Lewis Hamilton and one for George Russell. Before the famous truce, the German manufacturer was a serious outsider for the constructors' world championship. But since last September, during the race weekend in Azerbaijan, the W15's performance has started to slow down. No more podiums, or even victories, and their favorite driver, seven-time champion, finds himself in great difficulty at the wheel of his car. Between technical issues and set-up problems with the car, Hamilton is desperate and impatient to find himself with Scuderia Ferrari next year.
Last week, in Brazil, the problems increased for the native of Stevenage. Very capricious, Lewis Hamilton's car proved particularly complicated to drive on the Interlagos track. The numerous bounces of the machine disrupted the Briton's driving, he was eliminated in Q1 of qualifying. For his compatriot Russell, he placed on the second row and finished the main event in fourth position.
A halt in development?
Despite all these problems, Mercedes did not get discouraged and brought recent specifications to the W15. The latest improvements date back to Austin, USA. However, no improvement in results was observed. Engineering director Andrew Shovlin spoke about the German brand's new objectives for the end of the season.
“The problems we face with this development are the same as those we encountered before. Where we tend to struggle is in low-speed corners, especially in places where they flow together. The main goal of these last races is to learn everything we can. We are in a position in the championship where we cannot compete with those in front of us. It is very unlikely that we will be threatened by those behind. We are now focused on what we need to learn at the end of this year to apply next year to solve these problems.”
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In Brief
The end of this 2024 F1 season is particularly difficult for the Mercedes team. While good performances and podiums are starting to be complicated to achieve, the German manufacturer is focusing on the next campaign.
