Mercedes to unleash final upgrade at COTA with an eye on 2023

Michelle Foster
The Mercedes W13 of George Russell sporting a tribute logo. Belgium, August 2022.

The Mercedes W13 of George Russell sporting a tribute logo to celebrate 55 years of AMG. Belgium, August 2022.

Mercedes will roll out their final upgrade of the season at the United States Grand Prix as the team look for a performance boost through lighter parts.

Mercedes’ W13 is reportedly one of the heaviest cars on this year’s grid, Toto Wolff saying they have not been able to introduce a host of lighter parts because of the budget cap.

But nearing the end of the season, and presumably with a few bob still in hand, Mercedes will do just that at the Circuit of The Americas.

According to trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin, the team have dropped the weight of some parts but did not go into detail.

“It’s our final step of aero development and that will hopefully give us a bit more performance, but importantly, with every step, we are learning more and more and that learning we can carry into next year,” said Shovlin.

“So that’s part of it. Also, there are a few bits where we have taken some weight out of components that will hopefully get the car closer to the weight limit. It’s very difficult for us to predict where we will be.”

Mercedes have yet to win a grand prix this season, the Brackley team 0-18.

Should that run continue through to the end of the season, it will be the first championship since 2011 the team have gone winless.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton pulls into the pits for a pit stop. Italy September 2022

Shovlin says part of the problem is the W13’s single-lap pace. While the car has pace over a race distance, they are struggling to achieve the best starting positions on a Saturday.

“In Singapore, Lewis [Hamilton] was awfully close to pole position, yet in Suzuka both cars had a big gap to the front,” he continued.

“Now our race pace has been reasonably strong, so if we can make a step, hopefully we can get into the fight with the Ferraris and Red Bulls.

“But qualifying for us is the really difficult one to predict at the moment.

“As I said, a lot of it is about learning and we will certainly give it our best shot in the final four races.”

This year’s race at the Circuit of The Americas will be the 10th time Formula 1 has visited the Texan track, Mercedes having won five of nine races.

But with its bumps and tyre degradation, Shovlin admits it will be a “tricky” weekend for Mercedes.

“It’s a tricky circuit and it was a tricky circuit for us last year,” he said. “It was very bumpy, there was a lot of overheating from the tyres and we weren’t performing as well as Red Bull were on the softer tyres.

“They have done some resurfacing so hopefully those issues with the bumps are a bit less, but what’s very hard this year is to really know where you will be on the circuit before you’ve gone there and a lot of it is about learning.

“We won’t really be making any predictions about where we will perform, we just need to go there on Friday, see what kind of issues we have and then see whether we can solve those with set-up.”

British driver Lewis Hamilton walking with his head down in the Mercedes garage. Netherlands September 2022

Mercedes falling away in the fight for second

Separated by 30 points after the Dutch Grand Prix, Mercedes’ deficit to Ferrari in the race for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship has grown over the past three races to 67 points.

With four races remaining and 191 points still in play, the fight is by no means over.

It is, however, now much more difficult for Mercedes.

Introducing a revised floor at the Singapore Grand Prix, one that was again tweaked in Japan, Ferrari have made a step forward whereas the same cannot be said of Mercedes.

The Brackley squad are still struggling to understand the W13, the car’s development taking one step forward and half a step back.

And with Max Verstappen the odds-on favourite to win the final four races, it will be left to Ferrari and Mercedes to fight for the minor podium finishes, the gap in the points-scoring scale smaller with every position down.

George Russell’s chances of finishing P2 in the Drivers’ standings have also taken a hit of late, his top-five run ending in Singapore where he was outside the points and likewise in Japan where he was P8.

He is now 46 points down on Sergio Perez, who is a point ahead of Charles Leclerc, both Perez and Leclerc claiming back-to-back podiums in the last two grands prix.