Mercedes reveal ‘million-dollar question’ in search of fix to catch Formula 1 rivals
The team’s car has not been on the same level as some of their rivals’ early this season
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Your support makes all the difference.Mercedes chief technical officer James Allison concedes their car was not up to standard for the Bahrain Grand Prix and they are still asking the “million-dollar question” as to why.
The car wasn’t fast for practice or qualifying with issues particularly for Lewis Hamilton’s as his DRS failed. The drivers did manage to qualify fifth and seventh and during the race they climbed spots to end third and fourth.
Despite the good finish both Hamilton and George Russell complained about the difficulty of driving that car and Allison has given insight into how the team are trying to fix it.
“You might ask: Why were we running the biggest wing and if we were running the biggest wing, why didn’t we have the performance in our car that we might have hoped for? Well, that, of course, is the million-dollar question,” he said, per GP Fans.
“We’ve spent a lot of time, effort and love on trying to make the car as quick as it possibly can be, but we haven’t yet delivered something competitive.
“And we are having to run a big wing at the moment to give ourselves the downforce to do the best lap time we can with our car, but it is falling short of what is necessary for competitiveness.”
Mercedes look to get their season back on track at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix this Sunday, when they will try to overthrow Ferrari.
The Italian team took a one-two at the Bahrain race and Charles Leclerc is now leading the driver standings for the first time in his career. He said post-race: “Coming into this season, we knew we would be in a better position than we have been for the past two years, but we didn’t know exactly where we would stand.
“To be back on top with a car that is capable of winning feels incredible. A huge thank you to our whole team, you’ve done an amazing job and this victory is for all of you.”
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