Mercedes has had a rather average start to the ongoing 2024 F1 season. The team has struggled under the current ground-effect era and has not achieved any podium finishes in the races so far. As a result, the team principal and the drivers are expressing their disappointment with the performance of their W15 challenger. Brackley will introduce updates to the car before the next race in the hopes of achieving better results.
Even during the Chinese weekend, Mercedes faced difficulties despite a second-place finish in the Sprint race. The team was conducting experiments with the challenger, which significantly affected its performance. Hamilton was even eliminated from the qualifying session. It is clear that Mercedes is not in a favorable position.
The W15’s pace during the Shanghai weekend was not sufficient. Wolff stated that Mercedes will make multiple updates to the chassis before the upcoming Miami GP. The 52-year-old believes that Brackley needs to put in extra effort to develop the W15. He also expressed confidence and optimism about the upcoming upgrades to the car.
Both and Lewis Hamilton were experimenting with the challenger in Shanghai. Unfortunately, the experiments did not go well for Hamilton, leading to a poor race performance. Wolff admitted that the team took an overly aggressive approach to the experiments and acknowledged that the updates to the chassis went too far. It is clear that the car was not fast at all, as highlighted by Hamilton’s comments. The experiment was not a wise decision for the German constructor.
Taking everything into consideration, Mercedes will learn a great deal from the Chinese weekend and use it as a benchmark for future updates. The team will continue to work on the chassis to help Hamilton finish the season on a high note. As things stand, Brackley may even be at risk of losing out to McLaren throughout the season, considering Woking’s positive performance.