Ian Parkes & Remy Ramjiawan
Saturday 12 March 2022 18:36
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According to George Russell has Mercedes taken a step backwards from Red Bull and Ferrari† ‘s teammate Lewis Hamilton expects the German team to start the season trailing the two teams.
Mercedes introduced the renewed W13 during the second week of testing, which took place in Bahrain. It caused quite a stir among the competition, as the car of the German team has very narrow sidepods. In addition, the mirrors rest on a wing and the policymakers of Formula 1 do not seem to have fully foreseen that.
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‘Step back’
The Constructors’ champion made a messy impression on the final day of testing. “The car is still bouncing a lot and it’s not really comfortable,” says Russell. “But I don’t really care about comfort when the performance is there. Only at the moment there isn’t and we seem to have taken a step back from our rivals. So there is a lot of work ahead of us between now and next week, because in all circumstances the Red Bull and Ferrari seem to be one step ahead of us”
“I don’t think they’re exceptional, I just don’t think we’re as competitive as we’d like to be, to be honest. The Ferrari and Red Bull are where they should be,” Russell said. and we’ve taken a step back.”
Mercedes must unlock performance
Where porpoising was a problem especially in the first week of testing in Barcelona, Mercedes does not seem to have the problem under control yet. “All you have to do is watch the videos and you’ll see us bouncing, which is why the car doesn’t show itself well,” explains the former Williamsdriver out. He continues: “The team is working hard on a solution. We haven’t found it yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find one next week or later.”
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