Having suffered two seasons of ignominy with Mercedes failing to get on top of the new ground effect car design regulations brought in for 2022, Lewis Hamilton decided within weeks of signing a new contract with the silver arrows that his future would be better served if he switched his allegiance to Ferrari.

Hamilton’s decision appeared to be justified in the early part of this year as the W15 appeared to be the genuine DNA tested son of its tricky and unloved predecessors. Across the first eight rounds of 2024, Hamilton enjoyed two best finishes of P6 and scored just 42 points in comparison to Max Verstappen’s total of 169.

Then came the beginning of the Mercedes revival. A new front wing in Monaco appeared to give the W15 an element of stability which it had been lacking before. But it was next time out in Canada when Mercedes season came alive with both cars looking to have genuine race winning speed.

 

 

 

Mercedes golden spell

George Russell built on the pace of the practice sessions to pip Max Verstappen to pole position in Montreal. Hamilton though made a string of errors yet such was the improvement in the car he started the race in third place.

A late safety car saw both Mercedes drivers’ pit for fresh tyres and the ensuing battle between Hamilton and Russell was gripping, with the younger racer winning out to claim Mercedes first podium of the season. Hamilton was fourth and such was the advantage over the field, he refreshed his tyres once more before claiming a point for the fastest lap.

The race win for Verstappen took him to six victories for the year but little did we expect this would be his penultimate win of the year to date with his final one coming next time out in Spain. In Barcelona the Mercedes drivers were nipping at Verstappen’s heels once again but come the chequered flag the positions were reversed from Montreal, with Hamilton finding his first podium of the year.

Mercedes were set for a golden spell between the circuit de Catalunya and the F1 summer break. Granted, George Russell’s win the next time out in Austria was inherited from the battling Norris and Verstappen colliding but Lewis would prove this to be no fluke as he ended his 945 days without a Grand Prix win.

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Mercedes upgrades not working

Hamilton followed this up with a third place in Hungary and then whilst cruel for George Russell, Lewis was there to pick up the pieces for Mercedes when his team mate was disqualified from the win at Spa Francochamp.

Expectations were high for the eight times world champions as the teams returned from their August sojourn. Yet the new upgraded floor appeared to upset the balance of the W15 car and after a run of six consecutive podiums (including 3 wins) Mercedes were once again nowhere.

Whilst Russell managed fourth in qualifying his time was unimpressive and over half a second slower (on a shortish circuit) than pole sitter Lando Norris. Hamilton failed to make the top ten qualifying shootout and Mercedes could only manage P7 and P8 in the race with Russell leading the duo home.

A range of upgrades have been brought to the W15 in the six events held since the end of the summer break, yet none has proven to be the silver bullet Mercedes hoped they’d found. George Russell’s P3 in Azerbaijan has been the best return for the team and even this was only due to Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz coming together on the penultimate lap, an incident which saw neither the Red Bull or Ferrari driver take the chequered flag.

Hamilton laughs at Verstappen misfortune

 

 

 

Russell crashes put pressure on finances

Now Mercedes are admitting their spending is close to the cost cap limit in particular having suffered significant damage at the USGP and in Mexico City. Russell’s car was rebuilt overnight in Austin something which saw him penalised with a pit lane start.

Then again in Mexico the Mercedes engineers had their work cut out for them as Russell clipped a kerb in practice two, sending his W15 into the barriers. 

“That was really disappointing. For the last two weeks, I’ve put so much pressure on the team now with the lack of spares and it’s been pretty unnecessary. But we don’t really know why it’s happening. It’s not through sort of overdriving. It’s just the car bites,” said the driver who is the spokesperson for the GPDA.

Russell was asked after the session if his Logan Sargeant-esque couple of weekends had put Mercedes under pressure with their budget.

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Wolff “sacrifice” means no big sendoff

“There’s no concerns with budget cap because we’ve always got a bit of margin and you’re always weighing up what you put into this season versus what you put into next season,” said George in Mexico. However the Mercedes driver is not on the same page as his boss who now claims the situation with the cost cap is critical and will affect the teams ability to produce certain components before the season ends.

Toto Wolff was questioned by Austrian publication, Osterreich as to whether the team can bring one last heave to get Hamilton a win before he heads for pastures new.

“That would be a cool goal – eight drivers who are fighting and four really good teams. But I have set a clear course for the four races until the end of the year,” the Austrian added. “I will sacrifice a good race result for better development for next year.”

F1 exit for Perez sponsor

 

 

 

Toto fulfils his promise to Lewis

This is not great news for Lewis Hamilton who ends his lifelong association with Mercedes this December and has previously expressed it would be good to go out on the high from a race win. Yet Wolff is categoric:

“For us, every session and every race from now is a test. It is more important to me than a possible victory that we try everything out – ride height, rear wing, suspension, etc. We are taking the risk now in order to learn.”

When all looked grim early doors this year and Red Bull were a hundred and more points ahead of Mercedes after a handful of GP, Toto Wolff made what at the time appeared a ridiculous assertion: “We are going to win a race with him [Hamilton] this year.”

Well Hamilton doubled that wish list winning in Silverstone and Spa. Yet the current financial crisis, in part caused by his team mate, means no more wins are likely for Lewis as part of a big send off from Mercedes.

Deja Vu: Wolff openly attacks Verstappen

 

 

 

Perez: “I don’t think this can carry on like this”

Just when it looked as though things couldn’t get any worse for Sergio Perez, the weekend of his home Grand Prix in Mexico was as bad as it could get for Checo. This even despite the Red Bull driver challenging for the lead of this race last year, then putting his car into the wall at turn one.

In 2023 it was a sudden shock moment then it was all over for Sergio, but this year at the Autodromo Romanos Rodgriguez it was death by a thousand cuts for the Mexican driver.

In there practice sessions Perez was not at the races finishing tenth in practice one, ninth next time out and fourteenth in the all important final session before qualifying on Saturday afternoon. There Sergio crashed out of the first qualifying session with only the pointless drivers from Kick Sauber behind him on the grid meanwhile his team mate claimed the second spot on the front row… READ MORE