The Jeddah Grand Prix was more than a disappointment for Mercedes, with the two W15 cars scoring just ten points. The Brackley-based team failed to optimise Lewis Hamilton’s race after making a strategy gamble. However, this was the least of the team’s issues.
In fact, the balance of the car was terrible. Moreover, the car suffered from bouncing – especially in the high-speed corners during qualifying. Sector 1 was an ordeal, given the W15’s low aerodynamic load at the rear – which caused some oversteer.
Mercedes begins analysis ahead of Melbourne to limit bouncing and rear instability
Mercedes finished the Saudi Arabian GP in sixth and ninth position, thus recording the worst start to the season (also considering their results in Bahrain) of the hybrid era.
Seg-up was a significant issue for Mercedes, who still demonstrated a poor understanding of the new W15. During the 50-lap race, both drivers suffered from bouncing.
This was very limiting in the high-speed corners, where the drivers suffered from bouncing.
Andrew Shovlin, in the classic Mercedes Race Debrief, discussed several interesting topics.
One of these included the set-up choices (and ongoing changes) adopted by the two drivers during the race weekend:
“It’s quite rare that we opt for an identical setup between the two cars. On Friday, however, we had very similar setups.
“The drivers then gave us their feedback after the FP1 session, and at that point, they went in different directions.
“However, both had complained about the bouncing. So, we were trying to improve it. You can play with ground clearances and stiffness.
“We also tried to fine-tune the balance by seeking a compromise between all types of curves. At that point, the balance we had in that session was probably not as good as FP1.
“As a result, from there on, we started to converge back in the general direction we came from.
“But learning only happens when you change things and then you can see real differences.
“You also look at the overall performances of the two cars. But fundamentally, the limits that we had in qualifying and in the race were essentially the same for both.
“So, it’s something deeper that we need to dig into and understand.”
The British engineer then outlined the significant data collected from the opening rounds of 2024.
Data obtained from Jeddah will be of particular use to organise next weekend in Australia better, starting with free practice:
“Yes, there is definitely data we are collecting from Jeddah. We are also looking at the data from the Bahrain race and the Bahrain test.
“And we will come up with a plan on how to approach the first free practice in Melbourne.
“But it’s not just based on what we did in Jeddah. There is also a lot of work going on within the aerodynamics department.
“We’re trying to design some experiments there that will hopefully give us some good direction.”
The point on the strategies in the race, the difficulties in the first sector and the top speed of the W15 in the fight against McLaren
Subsequently, we reflected on a different strategy in the race, perhaps opting for the softs at the start with Lewis Hamilton, who started far behind:
“What we had seen in free practice was that the Soft was quite good in the first laps. It had a decent grip, but then it would start to fall apart.
“The rubber is quite soft, and graining would have occurred. The only reason we could have chosen the softs at the start was the hope of a Safety Car within the first laps.”