Motorsports
Whether the W13 is fast enough, Mercedes does not yet know
The problem of the porpoise is so persistent for the Mercedes F1 and causes so many problems when tuning the W13 that the champion has not even been able to determine how fast their car is this year.
The culmination of Lewis Hamilton’s exclusion from Q1 at the Saudi Arabian GP, caused by the inability of the team and the Brit to find a way to deal with the Mercedes W13’s bumps and get the tires to the ideal temperature level together , The F1 champion started the 2022 season with a different diameter than last year.
The Brackley team is forced to make huge compromises in building the W13 over the three days of competition to overcome the problem of jumps. And these compromises completely undermine the original philosophy of aerodynamic performance and tire management.
Despite her manual skills, the world champion of the last eight years cannot yet localize the problem and of course cannot say for sure if and when she will solve it. George Russell recently stated that this process could take until the end of the summer, which of course dampens the team’s hopes of retaining the F1 scepters.
The first priority of the Mercedes F1, as race engineer Andrew Sovlin has clarified, is to find a way to set the car up to face the porpoise and not upset its aerodynamic balance: “Because finally [το porpoising] prevents us from setting up the car properly to get the most out of it‘ said the Brit.
And he continued: “What we don’t know is if we assume that if we suddenly magically solve this problem, we will find ourselves in terms of performance. Is the car extremely fast or not? And it is very difficult to answer this question“.
As he said, the problem is more complicated than simply explaining the downward pressure exerted by lift on the straights until the car bottoms out and hits the tarmac. Many groups have addressed the problem by removing certain surfaces from the floor – but this option comes at a cost to the elevator’s overall performance. Mercedes is trying to find solutions without compromising on the W13’s aerodynamic performance in order to retain all the lift it originally predicted based on its design.
We need to solve the problem more efficiently
“If you can solve the problem of the jumps, you don’t have to be deprived of the lift‘ explained Sovlin.’Many groups, I think, exchange ideas with each other. We tried a notched bottom in the Bahrain tests, but we think what we found is the better solution overall. But so far we believe that what we did were simple fixes, we need to solve the problem more efficiently in order not to lose speed.
We need to better understand the problem. We’re taking some avenues that I think are going in the right direction, but it’s going to take us some time to get these new parts on the car. And we work very hard. We know very well that the other groups found solutions to this problem quicker than we did. And that’s not the data we normally work with“.
Andrew Sovlin concluded: “Some of the results we’re starting to see are interesting, but obviously we haven’t made a big enough move yet. The most dangerous thing now is to assume that we are beginning to understand the problem. We learn every day. I hope we can see the problem clearly in the relatively immediate future. We don’t look blindly, but we must act quickly.
We are under no illusions about our performance gap and in absolute terms it was bigger in Jeddah than in Bahrain. But we still have a lot to find, both for the qualifying tests and for the rounds of the race, when it comes to competing with the Ferrari and Red Bull cars. Our difference with the following teams gives us a little room to work and try to find solutions to improve the car’s performance“.
Source: sport 24
Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.
Former Ferrari engineer Javi Marcos is returning to Formula 1 with a new key role in the Cadillac project.
The Spaniard was previously working as Charles Leclerc’s race engineer at Ferrari, but was replaced by Brian Bozzi ahead of the 2024 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. After that, Marcos decided to leave the Italian team and join Cadillac.
Last year, Marcos worked in the American manufacturer’s WEC and IMSA programs and was also officially appointed technical director of Cadillac’s LMDh project.
However, it is now known that he will focus on Formula 1 again. According to sources, Marcos has been appointed chief racing engineer of the future Cadillac team, which will enter the championship in 2026.
Cadillac will join the peloton as its 11th Formula 1 team. The American team, which will use Ferrari power plants in the first seasons, will switch to its own engines in partnership with General Motors from 2028.
The team had previously confirmed that Carlo Pasetti and John Howard would serve as race engineers for Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez respectively. Marcos will serve in a position above them and will coordinate the work of the engineering staff.
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher shared his views on the best drivers in the history of the championship, naming Max Verstappen and his brother Michael Schumacher as the two best drivers he has seen in F1.
According to the 50-year-old German, this special duo; It will be an ideal combination in terms of speed, stability and mental toughness.
Schumacher said: “My brother and Max Verstappen. It would be very interesting. They would get along well because they are both at the top level and at the same time very reasonable. I think it will be a healthy but tough fight. If we talk purely about skill, these are two of the best drivers I have seen in Formula 1.”
The former racer also highlighted the key characteristic he believes distinguishes Williams, Verstappen and Michael Schumacher from the rest: the ability to consistently be at their best in crucial moments.
“The ability to perform under pressure, always being faster than your teammate and getting the best out of the car and the team – that’s what sets them apart,” he added.
Both drivers have long been regarded as some of the best in Formula One history. Michael Schumacher won seven championships, five of which were with Ferrari. Verstappen now has four titles.
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Max Verstappen said that being the only Red Bull driver who can challenge McLaren in the 2025 Formula 1 season is more of an advantage than a disadvantage.
In 2025, the Milton Keynes team again tried to solve the problem of the second car. However, the experiment with Liam Lawson failed – after two unsuccessful weekends, the New Zealander was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda.
However, the Japanese racer has not been able to perform at a consistently high level. Red Bull therefore decided to move Tsunoda to the reserve driver role in 2026, betting on Isak Hajjar.
Verstappen was forced to face McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri alone in the second half of the season, launching a surprise comeback to the title challenge.
Although Red Bull does not have a second car in the leading group for a more flexible strategy, Verstappen believes his status as the sole favorite has helped him.
“When you are alone you can attack and be much more aggressive. I always prefer that,” Verstappen said.
“If we’re almost equal in speed then I can only wish them luck because then you’ll start to work out the issues between you.”
The four-time world champion also emphasized that Norris and Piastri regularly take points away from each other, while McLaren’s driver parity policy makes strategic decisions difficult for the team.
Therefore, according to Verstappen, he would always determine the hierarchy in the team.
“If I were the team leader, I would always clearly define numbers one and two,” the Dutchman said.
“Of course, the second driver needs to collect enough points to compete for the constructors’ championship. But there needs to be a hierarchy.”
According to Verstappen, it was the lack of such an approach that cost McLaren some of its strategic advantages.
“They lost some of their strategic capabilities because they had two equal pilots. Of course, we benefited from that.”
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
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