Why Mercedes’ problems will end in Baku…

Will the real Mercedes please stand up – By Joe Man

It’s old news now to say what a horrible year it’s been at Mercedes. Nothing much has gone right with their car design yet there is hope. In Miami, for the first time since the back end of last year, we saw a flying time in practice. It made everyone stand up and take notice. Were the Brackley boys finally getting it together again?

24 hours later and it was gone, however. Qualifying was a mess, for Russell especially, and once again they were left scratching their heads. Race day was much better with a solid 5th and 6th but it was comments after that really raised hope. There was a different look in the faces of Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolf. You could tell they had discovered something!!
Toto was very open on how the data from the race had been a big step and they where on the road to a much better understanding of unlocking the cars potential. It wasn’t until Barcelona that we got the result.

The Silver Arrow began to show what the team had hoped. They were right up there from the start of the weekend with blistering practice times leading on to a solid qualifying. Race day brought about a podium for George Russell but it was Hamiltons race that in many way was more telling. An incident at the start left Lewis with a puncture and 30 seconds behind the field. Yet his pace from there was astonishing. He ended up in 6th place at times lapping way quicker than the leaders. There was a feeling of disappointment that we never got to see how he would have gone without the puncture. Fans of Mercedes around the world were enthusiastic that this is where the season would begin. There was of course one problem. Next up was Monaco!

The legendary race has not been a happy hunting ground for the silver arrows now for some time and it was never going to suit their car. In practice it was even worse that expected with severe bouncing. Interestingly this time it wasn’t the porpoising but a result of a rigid chassis that couldn’t handle the bumpy streets. It was frustrating that even though Russell got up to 5th, we got no closer to seeing the true pace of the car.

Which all brings us to Baku! The Azerbaijan grand prix is one of the highlights of the year now with its high speed and low speed sections as it winds through the old city. We should finally get to see what this much maligned car can do.
The 2022 Mercedes is really quick in a straight line. They have known this all along however the porpoising they did not expect! If they have genuinely fixed the issue then the long straights of Baku will suit them. God help them if the porpoising returns! A two kilometre start-finish straight at 340 KM/H bouncing like crazy would not be pleasant!

It is more likely however that the twisty slow speed section will be their undoing. They where horrible in Monaco through those sections and lost buckets of time.
We know its coming and this weekend could be their day!
Its an unpredictable race in Azerbaijan and staying out of trouble will be important. I expect to see a much stronger qualifying and their race pace is always much better. Whether they can live with Red Bull and Ferrari only time will tell. Its going to happen one of these weekends,
I have a strong feeling it could be this one!