Mercedes planning 'substantial upgrade' for Austin

40

Mercedes says that it will be rolling out a major new upgrade to the W15 at the next race in the United States in October as it seeks to fix problems relating to tire handling and performance.

It comes after a frustrating time in Singapore, where Lewis Hamilton and George Russell started on the second row but failed to make it onto the podium, with Hamilton particularly frustrated to drop to sixth place.

The team is using the unusually long break between races to prepare what it describes as a substantial upgrade package for Austin, according to technical chief James Allison.

"We will be trying to figure out how to mitigate what ailed us [last] weekend," Allison explained in a video posted on Mercedes' YouTube channel. "How to figure out how to make the tires run better on these overheating circuits.

“We've got quite a fairly substantial set of new clothes for the car coming for Austin that we hope will give us a decent weekend there,” he continued.

Read also: Mercedes details failed Singapore GP strategy call for Hamilton

Mercedes caused a story in Singapore when it asked permission to withdraw Russell and Hamilton from post-race media duties at Marina Bay with team boss Toto Wolff blaming border line heatstroke for the pair.

“We suffered again from a thing that has been problematic for us, which is on softer rubber at tracks where tire temperature is at a premium," Allison explained.

"Where it's very easy to overheat, we lose relative competitiveness," Allison explained. "And Singapore is at the extreme end of that experience. It was quite a difficult thing for them to manage.

“It was okay in qualy but not in race trim,” he commented. "To add insult to injury, 30 degrees air temperature, 70 percent relative humidity, it was very hot in the car and at the end of the race both of them were feeling that.

“They feel a lot better now from the heat part," he confirmed. "Cold ice bath and a few drinks and they bounce back relatively swiftly.

"The most significant thing, which is caring about the pace of the car, that hurt lingers a little longer,” he acknowledged.

Rather than being present in the pen answering questions from reporters on the ground, Russell and Hamilton provided written comments to the media pen with Wolff also talking with the media in their absence.

Mercedes is currently over a hundred points behind Ferrari in the constructors championship but comfortably ahead of Aston Martin in fifth, and appears to have little window of opportunity to improve in the remaining six races of 2024.

Despite his disappointment in Singapore, Hamilton remains in sixth place and the drivers standing on 174 points, 19 points ahead of his team mate with six Grand Prix races as well as three sprints in US, Mexico and Qatar.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.