Mercedes makes significant strides in Barcelona

While it’s no surprise that the Dutchman, AKA Max Verstappen, won another race- he’s finished in the top two in every round so far this year- it was surprising to see the two Mercedes drivers scoring a double podium finish in Barcelona. It’s seems that all the hard work is starting to pay off. The main catalyst for the boost in performance may simply come down to their abandonment of the zero-sidepod concept, which has left them on the back foot since the first race of last year. Why they didn’t make the decision sooner is anybody’s guess, but it seems likely that on paper, or in the wind tunnel, it appeared there was massive potential to be unlocked. Unfortunately it took the engineers at Mercedes 27 races to realize that they couldn’t figure out how to unlock it. Just think how much faster their car might be if they had left the zero-sidepod concept in the dust a year ago. On the other hand, where would they be if they had figured it out? The last time there was a significant change in the formula, Mercedes got it right and won eight consecutive world championships. This time, they didn’t get it right, but they are catching up.

The beauty of Formula One racing is that the cars are all different. They are built to the technical specifications that are laid out by the FIA, but the interpretation of those specifications are up to the teams and their engineers. The rules change every few years with minor tweaks in between so that nothing is static, and the teams develop their cars throughout the season (and the offseason) to trim down lap times so that the cars get a little faster with each race. The gains are all relative to the other teams however, so while it may look like a team is getting slower, it may just be that another team has gotten a lot faster by upgrading their car. The opposite can also happen. While an upgrade may look good on paper, it may not translate to the track, and the car can lose performance. Still, even for Red Bull, it is imperative to continue improving the car during the season, or risk being relegated to the back of the pack.

So, while Mercedes has made significant strides forward, they will need to carry on with their work if they want to continue to enjoy podium finishes. The track conditions in Barcelona, cooler weather combined with highspeed corners, were well suited to the Mercs, and they may be treated to similar conditions at the next race, which is the Canadian GP on June 18th, but as the summer heats up it may be more difficult to keep pace. For now, with the double-podium points haul in Barcelona and a strong showing in Monaco, the Mercedes team has moved ahead of Aston Martin in the championship by 18 points. It’s a long way to catch Red Bull, but Mercedes is currently looking like they are well positioned for “best of the rest”, and they will do everything they can to hold that spot and inch forward towards the Red Bulls.