One of the biggest protagonists of the Bahrain pre-season tests was the Mercedes W15. The former champions hope to give Lewis Hamilton and George Russell a car capable of fighting for victories.
However, the Red Bull RB20 is complicating the plans of the Anglo-German team and the others, despite the important steps forward that all Milton Keynes’ rivals have made.
Fernando Alonso brutally admitted that after the first laps, “19 drivers already know that they will not be world champions.”
At Mercedes, they also consider the RB20 the benchmark. Lewis Hamilton described the W15 as “a step forward, but still not enough.”
Mercedes: Test program completed successfully, good correlation
Each team follows its own work plan for the now canonical three days of pre-season testing. The Brackley team focused above all on the continuous execution of more or less long runs.
They also experimented with the car’s set-up, studying the behaviour of the W15 in various conditions. Mercedes’ Technical Director spoke of a “comprehensive testing programme” to impliment work that wouldn’t normally be done on a race weekend.
Many of their changes require a significant amount of time. Talking about the pecking order is always a difficult practice, so Mercedes was focused internally. On this front, Mercedes brought home many positive notes.
“We got rid of that annoying instability at the rear, and the correlation improved a lot.
“Last year, at this point, we were in a lot of trouble,” confirmed the former Ferrari member.
The Mercedes W15 reacts to the technicians’ changes as per the simulator’s predictions. This translates into a more manageable car, which drivers can push more easily.
Moreover, the team’s technicians can make changes and proceed confidently with future development. Unlike last year, on-track performance is consistent with the simulator.
Producing spare parts will be the priority after last weekend, alongside understanding the data produced in the tests.
Innovative mechanics stabilise the aerodynamic platform
A lot of work on the W15 was done on the mechanical part. In addition to the chassis (completely changed for James Allison’s new car with a rearward driving position), the suspension has also been revised.
At the front, a particular solution has been designed that allows the anti-dive capacity of the suspension to be adjusted very aggressively by adjusting the position of the rear arm of the upper suspension triangle.
“We did tests that normally aren’t done on a race weekend because they take too much time,” commented Allison.
The Silver Arrows wanted to explore as many setup solutions and basic settings as possible to choose then which path to take in the future.
One of the objectives sought by Mercedes is to stabilize the W15 platform to avoid the problems of last season.
At the rear, visible slimming work has been done in the keel of the diffuser. The transmission case has been slimmed down, and the rear suspension has switched to a push rod scheme to raise the internal parts and streamline the dimensions in the diffuser, thus increasing the effectiveness of the extractor.
The rear of the W15 has thus been completely revised. Allison has confirmed a decisive improvement in this area, which is now less nervous and unpredictable.
Both drivers then confirmed that the W15 is “more pleasant to drive”. Similar comments were made about the Ferrari and its new SF-24 machine.
The development objectives thus appear to have been achieved. However, the RB20 shows there is still ground to cover to fight for a World Championship.
Author: Paolo D’Alessandro
Co-Author: Piergiuseppe Donadoni
Translation: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
