Mercedes showing potential but held back by characteristic
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin admits that the W13 has an “annoying” characteristic of showing glimpses of real potential. All season the eight times constructors champions have struggled to get to grips with the new regulations, but have decided to stick with the narrow sidepod concept, while others have been gravitating in a common direction.
George Russell’s pole in Hungary followed by a second consecutive two-three finish for Lewis Hamilton and his younger teammate in the race have led the team to believe that it is starting to understand the car. Shovlin told Motorsport.com, “It is useful, and this car has been particularly annoying in the way it gives you glimpses of performance and what might be, to a level that it’s very difficult for us just to give up on it.
“So it sucks you in a bit, from an engineering point of view. It has been a tricky car. And certainly, some of the issue is just that we haven’t got enough downforce, we need to find more downforce, and find a bit more power. But overall it is a useful sign that we’re going in the right direction.”
Shovlin says the double podium finish and pole position was something earlier this year was something they could have dreamed of, as well as showing encouragement as the team are making progress. Mercedes have been clear that they are planning to stick with the ‘zero’ or ‘no’ sidepod concept.
He believes the narrow bodywork can perform well in races, as well as being a foundation for developing the car. Adding “But the sidepods are probably a bit of a distraction from the overall issues that we’ve had to fix. If you think it’s only three races ago we were bouncing around all over the place in Montreal, Baku, Monaco.”
Shovlin says the drivers aren’t talking about bouncing all the time, although the car does still bounce in certain corners or straights, he described it as a “noticeable absence.”
Shovlin admitted that the team didn’t know if Russell’s Budapest pole reflected a genuine upturn in form, or was more related to Ferrari and Red Bull not performing at their best. However, there was one clear improvement for Mercedes. That gave the drivers confidence which they were previously lacking.
Adding, “We haven’t really seen our two putting in those sort of blinding laps until George got it on pole. And that might be something that we’ve improved. And there are some changes on the car that may have done that.”
The question for Mercedes remains the same, whether Russell’s pole in Budapest was a genuine turn in form or whether Ferrari and Red Bull were not performing at their best. He says the team did a good job of getting everything in the in the right window.
FIA to update regulations to help porpoising
FIA president Mohammed bin Sulayem has announced that the updated 2023 Technical Regulations will be submitted to the World Motor Sport Council this week to address the porpoising issue in F1.
Sulayem says the issue of porpoising has been discussed with all the drivers and teams. Porpoising has affected all the cars this season but has been most noticeable on the Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton previously saying he was left in pain during Friday’s practice sessions in Baku.
He tweeted “Having discussed the porpoising issue with all 20 @F1 drivers & 10 team principals, I’m happy to confirm that we will be submitting updated 2023 Technical Regulations to the WMSC this week to address this, in addition to the measures already taken for the remainder of this season.”
Several drivers have complained about the new 2022 cars bouncing violently at high speed, the FIA issued a new technical directive ahead of Montreal on safety grounds. However, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said following that directive it was unfair to change the rules when one team is struggling more than most, pointing the finger at the underperforming, and bouncing, Mercedes.
Mercedes CEO and team principal admitted that all teams were either trying to keep a competitive advantage or gain it, but insisted the “situation has clearly gone too far”. He said all drivers were suffering from what was a design issue that needed to be solved.
Adding, “Team Principals trying to manipulate what is being said in order to keep the competitive advantage, and trying to play political games when the FIA tries to come up with a quick solution to at least put the cars in a better position, is disingenuous. This is a joint problem we are having as Formula 1… this is a design issue that needs to be solved.”
He repeated his message that there are questions about whether my position is sincere or not and that’s why he believes it’s not only our problem, because the long-term effects are unknown.
In response, Horner said: “Ferrari presented its position regarding the TD [technical directive] and Toto is campaigning for a change in regulations – which is somewhat ironic because his car looked quite quick with not a lot of bouncing. I think it was just pointed out to him that perhaps his issues were within rather than everybody’s issue.”
“Everything open” in championship fight – Perez
Sergio Perez still believes “everything is open” in the championship battles after the summer break despite some retirements “killing” his season so far. His last victory in Monaco in May saw him move to within fifteen points of Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, however, since then their seasons have taken different directions.
While Verstappen has won four of the six races since Monaco, Perez has just two runner-up finishes to show for in the same period, as well as retirements in Canada and Austria. The gap at the halfway point in the season between the two teammates is eighty-five points, with nine races to go.
In a piece published today and speaking before Budapest, Perez told Motorsport.com, It still is a very long season. What has been really killing my first half of the season has been the DNFs, to be honest.”
“Without those DNFs, my championship would look a lot different to what it is now. So yeah. But overall, I think there are a lot of positives to take from this half season.”
Perez retired in Sakhir with a fuel pump issue and a gearbox issue in Montreal, while an opening lap collision with George Russell in Spielberg forced him out of the race. Although the retirements have hurt Perez’s championship hopes, he has nevertheless appeared to take a step forward in 2022 with the Red Bull car after struggling to get to grips with the skittish RB16B car through 2021.
That has already earned him a two-year contract extension, signed before his win in Monaco. Asked how he would rate his season to date compared to previous campaigns, Perez thought it was “pretty high up there.”
Adding “I think it’s been a very good first half of the season, very complete, putting good races together, good results, of course good consistency. I think it’s there, and everything is open on the championship.”
Red Bull will start the second half of the season ninety-seven points ahead of Ferrari in the constructors, but the Mexican warned the team must not get complacent as “everything is still very open.”
Ocon has what it takes to lead Alpine
Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer believes that Esteban Ocon has what it takes to lead the team following Fernando Alonso’s departure at the end of this season. Szafnauer says that the Frenchman’s only weakness is that he can take too long to find the limits at the start of the race weekend.
The French manufacturer has been at the centre of the driver market, after announcing Oscar Piastri last Wednesday. However, the Australian is understood to have signed a contract with McLaren and quickly took to social media to deny that he would be racing for Alpine next year.
While Alpine is still pursuing its claim on Piastri, with the matter expected to go to the Contract Recognition Board, the team management is now considering other drivers.
The list includes former Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg, but many of the candidates have less experience than Ocon, potentially leaving him as de facto team leader next year. Szafnauer says that Ocon proved his worth alongside Sergio Perez at Force India/Racing Point in 2017 and 2018.
Szafnauer told Motorsport.com, “Esteban is a super talent. I worked with him at Force India and those were the days of Sergio Perez as his teammate. And he was as quick as Sergio and raced Sergio hard, and if you remember those days, they were always together on the grid”
“With Fernando too, although Fernando’s got the skill and the talent to get a lap out of the car very quickly. He needs three or four laps and he’s at 99%, or 99.9%, and that extra 0.1% comes with a few laps more, if you know what I mean, whereas Esteban takes a little bit more time to get the maximum out of the car.”
“But ultimately, on Saturday, and then Sunday, he’s there. So he needs to learn a little bit to get there a bit faster. But we’re working with him on that.” Asked if Ocon can lead the team, he says the Frenchman is getting “better and better” as well as scoring good points for the team.
McLaren explains gaps between qualifying and race pace
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has explained that being able to mask the car’s lack of downforce in qualifying is behind the large discrepancy between qualifying and race pace.
The British team has appeared to have taken a step back this season, after fighting for third in 2021, it has found itself behind Alpine fighting for fourth in the constructors. Alpine and McLaren are now also involved in an off-track tussle over Oscar Piastri’s services, and has generally had the measure of its Woking rivals across F1 2022’s first thirteen races.
But as McLaren is struggling to keep up with Alpine and F1’s three top teams over a race distance, the team’s leading driver Lando Norris has qualifying particularly well in recent races. The Englishman has shown step forwards qualifying fourth in Budapest, fifth at Paul Ricard and sixth at Silverstone, beating one of the Mercedes cars on both occasions.
Asked by Motorsport.com why McLaren manages to perform strongly in qualifying only to fall back during the race, Seidl explained qualifying can mask some of the car’s deficits as it manages to extract the most from the Pirelli tyres over one lap.
He explained, “I think in general if we compare our competitiveness in quali compared to the race, I guess in quali the deficits our car in the end still has to these top three cars. I would say mainly on the downforce side, obviously, you can mask quite a lot with the grip tyres are having on one lap in qualifying,”
“But then over the race distance, the lack of performance or downforce is obviously eating into the tyres. And I guess that’s why you then see the bigger gap over the race distance.”
When the season resumes at Spa, McLaren trails its main rival by thirteen points thanks to Norris leading the charge for the team. He is also best of the rest behind the top three teams’ drivers in seventh in the driver’s championship.
Seidl said McLaren’s recent upgrades have helped keep it in the fight for P4, although he acknowledged the three top teams are still miles away even if McLaren can occasionally beat a Mercedes in qualifying.
‘Upsetting’ to turn down Top Gun – Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton has described turning down a role as a fighter pilot in Tom Cruise film Top Gun: Maverick was “the most upsetting call that I think I’ve ever had”. The seven-time champion said he had accepted a part in the hit sequel to the original 1986 film.
However, he had to pull out because filming took place during the F1 season. Hamilton says he “built a friendship” with Cruise after the Hollywood star invited him to the set of his 2014 science fiction film, Edge of Tomorrow.
Top Gun made Hamilton determined to become a fighter pilot as a child, and he could not resist asking Cruise if he could be involved in the long-awaited follow-up film. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the Englishman said “When I heard the second one was coming out, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I have to ask him.” calling Cruise “one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet”.
“I said, ‘I don’t care what role it is. I’ll even sweep something, be a cleaner in the back’.”
In the interview, Hamilton said he had not enjoyed following rules “since I was a kid” and feels F1 governing body the FIA directed its strict approach to drivers wearing jewellery in their cars at him.
Saying “I’m the only one that has jewellery on, really. I’ve never loved being told what to do. People love to have power and to enforce power.”
Hamilton said that he had bad experiences with authority figures during his childhood. Speaking about school he said his dyslexia made him struggle ‘like hell’ and was put in bottom sets without the chance or help to progress.
Adding “Teachers were telling me, ‘You’re never going to be nothing.’ I remember being behind the shed, in tears, like, ‘I’m not going to be anything’ – and believing it for a split second.”
Hamilton is currently sixth in the championship, having earned podium finishes in his past five races and hinted he could stay with Mercedes beyond the end of his existing deal in 2023.
he said, “I’ll be lying if I said that I hadn’t thought about extending. I’m still on the mission, I’m still loving driving, I’m still being challenged by it. So I don’t really feel like I have to give it up any time soon.”
