Martin Brundle: Mercedes’ current form is ‘confusing’

Martin Brundle: Mercedes’ current form is ‘confusing’

Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff

Mercedes had a great, solid race in Canada. The porpoising / bouncing looked reduced than in the previous two races, in Azerbaijan, and Monaco. Just like the porpoising, their performance was also better than the last two weekends, where they had struggled with the bouncing.

When the new technical directive regarding ‘vertical oscillations’ came out, it allowed the teams to add an extra rod from the chassis to the floor for extra support. As it turned out, only Mercedes were able to procure that rod in time for Friday. This would undoubtedly have helped their weekend, but on Friday, Mercedes chose to continue their setup experiments, which Lewis Hamilton termed a ‘disaster’.

https://youtu.be/zme-mzlz4fE

Thankfully for Hamilton and co., the rest of the weekend was much smoother for them. Hamilton qualified 4th, and he and teammate George Russell completed a 3-4 finish during the race, with him stepping on the podium for the second time this season. The team certainly looked much better than in Azerbaijan and Monaco, even though the result in Azerbaijan was certainly good for them. The inconsistency in the feeling and performance of the car is confusing to many, including Martin Brundle.

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Martin Brundle: Mercedes fancy their chances at Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton celebrating his victory at Silverstone, in 2021.

In his column for Sky Sports, Martin Brundle wrote: “The Mercedes team are so confusing for everyone at the moment, including themselves.”

Referring to Hamilton’s interview where he had described the car as ‘undriveable’, and that maybe Mercedes should focus on the car for next year and his interview with Toto Wolff, Brundle wrote:

“On Friday Lewis declared the car was undriveable, which is indeed exactly how it looked.” he added: “Team boss Toto Wolff said similar things to me in an interview having described the car as a ‘s***box’ just a week earlier.”

In the race, Mercedes’ fortunes almost seemed to have flipped: “Then in the race, both Mercs were flying along almost at the leading pace.” but Brundle said that it would not have been the case if Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez had ‘normal’ performances and if there were no safety cars. According to him, in a normal race, the Mercedes duo would have finished fifth and sixth.

“Once again there does appear to be a good car under that shrink-wrapped bodywork, and they fancy their chances at Silverstone which is next up.”

Mercedes will certainly fancy their chances at Silverstone. Both drivers will be competing in their home races, and Hamilton has already said that he wants to be competing with the Red Bull and Ferrari cars in the race.

Also Read: “It really does hinder” : Lewis Hamilton wants Mercedes to do fewer ‘experiments’

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