Formula 1 – Mercedes explains: This is how it wants to change the concept of the car

Mercedes Formula One technical director Mike Elliott says the team is looking across the board as it evaluates the W14 concept change.

After the Bahrain Grand Prix, team principal Toto Wolff made it clear that it was time to consider a change of direction and that there would be no “holy cows” when it came to sticking to try and the truth.

Defining what a concept Formula 1 car entails has been the subject of debate in recent weeks, with Wolff making it clear that it goes beyond the “zero case” brand.

Elliot: “Maybe we missed a trick?”

In the Mercedes video, Elliott acknowledges that the definition of the term can be broad. “The simple answer is that it means different things to different people,” he says.

“I think after Bahrain we had to accept that we weren’t where we wanted to be, that we had to look at all the things that make up our car and figure out what we can do differently and how we can get more performance, because we have to make up for the big deficit.” .

“So engineers are busy looking at aerodynamics, they’re looking at the shape of the car, things like side geometry, underbody geometry. Maybe we missed a trick?”

“But we’re also looking at the simulation world: Are we aiming for the right things, are we driving the aerodynamics in the right direction? We’re also looking at the mechanical structure of the car: Are there things missing?”

“What can we put in the car to increase the performance? And we try to do that as fast as we can. We want to compete at the front and we can just do that by accepting that we are not in a position we want to be in and fighting and working hard to get back there.”

Elliott: Underperformance ‘reality check’

Elliott asserts that the poor performance of the W14 tournament in Bahrain was a “reality test” for Camp Brackley, but says this motivated the team to look for solutions: “Obviously Bahrain was a real reality test and it was a real disappointment to find ourselves in the position we’re in, It is a non-competitive situation.”

“Disappointment for the whole team. But they have to get past this and turn that into what we’re going to do about it. How are we going to bring that kind of energy and what are we capable of? Moving forward? How are we going to get back into the fight?”

“And actually, when you go through the factory, there’s a tremendous amount of energy, there’s a lot of work going on, and we’re really seeing some developments that are going to get us back into that championship fight. Anything we can do is just to keep going. And actually I was very happy to see the situation in the team. “.

Mercedes more competitive in Australia?

When asked about the likely form of the Australian Grand Prix, he said: “First of all, our main goal at the moment is to keep learning. We only have two races so far. It’s really hard to extract directions from that.”

“And what we’re really focused on is figuring out how to move forward. Can we take this next small step? Can we gain more understanding that will help us recover?”

“In terms of the actual track characteristics, maybe Australia is limited in front and maybe Jeddah is more than Bahrain, so let’s hope we can take another small step forward, be a little bit more competitive.”