Mercedes F1 says it has mixed feelings about its expectations for 2024, but technical director James Allison has high hopes for “happier handling” of the W15 car this season. Mercedes, aiming to regain its dominant position in F1, is working on the W15, a complete overhaul of its car which will see Lewis Hamilton and George Russell move up the championship standings this season. the top.
Earlier this week, Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff revealed that early simulator reports for the 2024 car were positive. Allison continued with cautious optimism, indicating that he believes Mercedes has made progress in terms of handling performance. But Alison continues to keep her confidence in check. “It is impossible to feel anything but anxiety, excitement and fear during this time,” Alison said. “These are the emotions you feel all the time, and I imagine you won’t be able to sleep soundly in your bed even with Red Bull, which has worked so well for a year, because you never know what else it will bring.” “, what we can hope is that the unpleasant characteristics of the rear end become a little friendlier and the car handles better. “This is all simulation, but we can still achieve improvements. But Allison also hinted at progress in terms of downforce and engine power. “Along with this handling, there are the usual things to keep in mind like lighter weight, more downforce and hopefully a little more lift on the powertrain side. By adjusting the calibration levels, we have these current regulations .You can still do it underneath,” Allison said. “Time will tell if it will be enough. But we are aware of some problems and that’s interesting. We have a hypothesis as to what the cause of these problems was. , we’ve solved the cause. It will be interesting to see how accurate the diagnosis was.” While Mercedes hopes for a breakthrough this season, Allison said F1’s ground effects rules, which are in their third season, suggest there isn’t as much room for development as people think. “I think we’ve done a good job with the new car and addressed some of the shortcomings that were made public last year,” Allison said. “Also, in my mind, the rules themselves put a clearer limit on the lap times these cars can produce. The more love you put into them, the more effort you put into them. There’s a much clearer upper limit than the previous generation of cars , which became infinitely faster.”If you look at last year, Red Bull’s dominance was close to complete from the beginning to the end of the season, and they were weak until the last race. “But in the big picture, the grid is gradually compressed.”
2024-01-19 22:16:19
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