Last Updated on April 10 2024, 11:25 am

The success of Mercedes AMG F1 has been remarkable since the team was acquired from Brawn GP in 2009. Eight consecutive constructor championships combined with seven driver titles for Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg placed the Brackley based team front and centre in the sport of Formula One.

Yet the fall from grace for the silver arrows has been spectacular with certain experienced paddock commentators recently comparing it to the beginning of the end for the once all conquering Williams team, or even McLaren. Of course Mercedes are never going to be back of the grid material in the way Williams became established there if not only because of the high level of infrastructure and investment into the team over the years.

 

 

 

W15 mechanically flawed

There is however, no argument that Mercedes W15 creation has fallen behind both Ferrari and McLaren offerings and results to date this year suggests an Aston Martin in the hands of Fernando Alonso is also quicker than the Mercedes car.

Toto Wolff does his best each F1 weekend to face up to the media and claim the team is busting a nut to improve the characteristics of the W15, but the evidence of progress issuant from the on track data.

Technical Director James Allison recently admitted there are characteristics of their 2024 challenger which makes “no sense” and Wolff himself has stated on more than one occasion this year that his engineers are tackling a “physics” problem rather than anything else.

The simulation tools at Brackley have not been giving the team a proper heads up on what they face when they arrive at a circuit, which almost definitely means the W15 is mechanically flawed rather than suffering from an poor aerodynamic design.

Huge Red Bull signing

 

 

 

‘Abandon’ current efforts?

With Mercedes now so far behind the eight ball, whispers have emerged the team may abandon its efforts under the current F1 car design rules and begin to focus on the challenges of the 2026 big regulation change.

Of course this is not allowed under FIA regulations as teams must not begin any wind tunnel work for 2026 before January 2025. Further, the actual aero specifications have not been finalised, with suggestions some F1 team simulations are presently showing the cars of the future to be un-drivable.

When it was suggested to Toto Wolff, the time may come when the team look to 2026 and abandon their current efforts the Mercedes boss was adamant: “We are Mercedes,” he said. “We cannot completely abandon the current regulations and continue to perform at the level we are at the moment.

“That’s not the ambition of the brand, nor our own and our partners’. So, no. I think you’ve got to continue to push, continue to form your understanding.”

F1 “insider” reveals internal Red Bull chaos

 

 

 

2026 regulations not finalised

Wolff explains until the regulations are finalised, there’s little they or any other team can do. Recent F1 simulations reveal by restricting the moveable aero parts to the rear wing of the 2026 cars results in a huge shift in the aero balance, when the low drag version is deployed.

With just over three months before the regulations must be finalised, the FIA has decided to now investigate the use of a moveable front wing in tandem with the rear. Wolff admits Mercedes will be “on the earlier side” when it comes to their 2026 designs as they seek to overcome the likes of Ferrari and McLaren once again.

“If your expectation is eventually to race for wins and championships, then you can say we’re in a bit of a no man’s land because Max and Red Bull are far ahead,” Toto explains.

“We are in this bunch, but it’s not satisfying for either team that is fighting for P2, P3, or P4. I’ve always said that if I was to look from a pure sporting point of view, it is P1 what matters and not P2/P3/P4.”

Alonso rules out Mercedes move

 

 

 

Wolff pragmatic

Toto has an air of the pragmatist about him facing the reality that this years honours are already out of reach for Mercedes and with just four rounds of the 24 completed.

“But this is a reality that we are facing at the moment and we’re trying to do the best out of this new reality,” Wolff adds.

“That [our aim] is to beat our direct competitors, whilst acknowledging that somebody is just doing a better job, and setting a benchmark that we eventually need to set ourselves again on whether we’re able to win races this year, and I wouldn’t want to let that ambition go. And certainly not next year.”

Mercedes has now for three years attempted to build a competitive car and failed. It would be easy then for the team to admit defeat and look to the new rules era. Wolff denies his team is operating on this basis.

Horner shuts down journalists over allegation

 

 

 

Mercedes ‘no brainer’ decision

“For 2026 there is a big reset, which certainly provides the most realistic opportunity for any other team to beat Red Bull. But there is one and three-quarter seasons before that, and I don’t want to go to through much more suffering in the next 18 months. I would just hope for highlights and a trajectory that’s going upwards,” Toto concludes.

If Mercedes are to be competitive from 2026 onwards, they must get to grips with the ground effect car design which is here to stay. The mechanical gremlins which are causing the car to handle poorly can be engineered out of the W15, but will take time and use up precious budget resources.

When the choice does arrive between spending money on the current failing project or on funding the 2026 design, for Mercedes the decision will be a no brainer.

Sainz reveals update on coming changes

 

 

 

F1 crisis: 2026 cars “un-drivable”

F1 new 2026 rules chaos behind the scenes. Formula One is about to experience its next big car design rule changes for the 2026 season, but it appears the plan to split the power output 50/50 between electrical components and the traditional combustion engine is in chaos. Big rule changes are less frequent in the modern era of F1 than in the early years of the sport because the investment made by the teams today runs into hundreds of millions of dollars.

Since the turn of the millennium, the infrequent rule changes has seen Formula One suffer eras of dominance by one team or another. Ferrari won six consecutive drivers titles from 1999-2004 before Renault claimed the next two. Following the three years from 2007 which saw Ferrari, McLaren and Brawn GP each win the titles, Red Bull aced the rules from 2010-2013 winning all eight championship trophies on offer…. READ MORE