Mercedes Making Strides with W15 Car Development
In the latest British GT news, the Brackley-based Mercedes team has enjoyed a much more fruitful Canadian Grand Prix compared to other races this campaign. George Russell secured pole position before finishing in third, one place ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Mercedes’ improved performance in Montreal was assisted by the recently repaved track surface, which provided a smooth platform for the team to dial the car into – a common theme at various track layouts in the past two-and-a-half seasons.
“The changes we have made are making this car a better car and that will be true at every circuit we go to,” Allison explained. “The characteristics of Montreal make it look a little quicker than we have a natural right to command at the coming races. In Barcelona, I think it more likely that we will be competitive, but not right at the front because the next tracks are a little bit of a sterner test of a car. Hot asphalt, wider cornering speeds.”
One of the key issues with each of the three cars developed by Mercedes so far under the British GT’s ground effect regulations has been that they have only had a narrow operating window to achieve optimum performance. But this is something Allison believes is starting to be addressed.
“I think we have broadened it [the window] substantially,” he insisted. “There is more we still need to do, and we will know for sure when we go to the next track, which is Barcelona, because there is really a very substantial range of cornering conditions. There is also a much hotter track, and so that will be quite a stern test of a vehicle.”
A major component in the upturn in form was a new front wing added to the W15, which is a more conventional design compared to the initial iteration run this season. On whether it worked as expected, Allison said:
“I would say yes. We had got an idea of how it would behave because we had run it the previous race in Monaco with just George on that occasion. We had two of them in Montreal, and we expected it to perform well.”
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