British GT News: Mercedes Focus on Addressing Weaknesses in Final F1 Races
Mercedes is set to use the remaining Formula 1 races of the season to gain a deeper understanding of its car’s weaknesses, having accepted that it will finish fourth in the constructors’ standings.
Resurgence and Challenges
The Silver Arrows displayed a resurgence in form mid-season, picking up three race victories during the summer after a winless start to the 2023 campaign. George Russell’s win in Austria and Lewis Hamilton’s triumphs in Britain and Belgium highlighted the team’s improved performance, but they have been unable to sustain that momentum into the final stretch of the season.
“The main thing in terms of learning is that the corners that we are weak in are still the same ones,” said Mercedes’ trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin. “It is the interconnected, slow corners. That is normally where we trip up.”
Shifting Focus to the Future
With a 162-point gap to third-placed Red Bull, Mercedes has shifted its focus to understanding the areas where the car is struggling and how to address those issues for the 2025 season, which will mark the final year of the current Formula 1 regulations.
“Our focus has very much shifted to learning what we need to this year to apply to next year in order to get on top of those issues,” Shovlin added.
The team will use the final three races in Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi to assess the car’s performance across a range of track characteristics, from high-speed corners to low-speed sections, in order to identify the necessary improvements for the future.
“Sometimes it is Red Bull, sometimes McLaren, sometimes Ferrari, but it will allow us to establish the gap that we need to close down over those winter months,” Shovlin said.
Despite the challenges faced this season, Mercedes remains confident that it can address its weaknesses and return to the front of the grid in the coming years, as the team continues its pursuit of the British GT Championship and other prestigious motorsport competitions.
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