Merc must be in trouble with W13 F1 car, they took a saw to floor at test

[John S]

According to Jonathan Noble, on motorsport.com, Mercedes resorted to hacking off parts of W13 floor at Bahrain test to try to ease pogo effects they just can't seem to get on top of. 

Maybe they are in more trouble than anyone is ready to admit, .....or more importantly believe. 

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/the-photo-that-offers-clues-about-mercedes-f1-troubles/8952995/

[lkjohnson1950]

Merc may have gotten the new car too right. They seem to have the worst porpoising problem, possibly because they have the most downforce when the aero is working. Here is RaceFans' view on how the teams shook out at the end of testing:
Red Bull on top
Ferrari improved from 2021 possibly passing Merc
Merc possibly sinking into the midfield
Haas confidant they have moved up well into the midfield
Alpine, McLaren have braking problems
Williams, Aston a bit of a mystery. Cars are reliable but haven't showed much speed.
Alfa thinks they have a good car but haven't shown it. Bottas says he's beginning to like it.
Toro Rosso think they will struggle to repeat last season's result.

https://www.racefans.net/2022/03/13/red-bull-and-ferrari-on-top-mercedes-crying-wolff-how-each-team-fared-in-testing/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email

[cosworth151]

During the winter we were speculating that one or more of the teams might get it way wrong. Could this be it? This weekend could be really interesting.

[Jericoke]

Certainly in the 'turbo hybrid' era, Mercedes' dominance  has come more from mechanical advantages than aerodynamic ones.  They had the best engine for long time, and kept adding 'tricks' to their bag.

Not that they got the aero 'wrong', but it wasn't what was winning for them.  Now that aero is the big differentiator, it wouldn't be a surprise if it's put them a little behind.

Toto runs a tight ship though, and Mercedes has been able to fight back in previous seasons even when they didn't have the best car at certain points in the season.

And of course, Hamilton is nowhere near the point of his career where a little adversity will slow him down.

[rmassart]

Merc possibly sinking into the midfield
Haas confidant they have moved up well into the midfield

I'd be very surprised by either of these.

Merc might have problems, but sinking to midfield is a pretty drastic reduction in performance. I don't see them being lower than third.

Haas may or may not have a good car, but the Russian sanctions surely can't be doing them any good at the moment. I don't see them in the top half.

Of course I'll be happy to be wrong if it means we get some more varied racing and winners.

[Jericoke]

Of course I'll be happy to be wrong if it means we get some more varied racing and winners.

2021 had 6 race winners from 4 teams.

I know there have been seasons with more variety, but the norm for the last 20 years is closer to 5 winners from 3 teams.

Even in 2010, with the epic final race with 4 possible champions, there were only 6 winners from 3 teams.

How many winners makes a season 'interesting'?

(Never mind me, ideally the sport should be giving hope to every single driver/team on race day.  I don't know that F1 has EVER been that close, but it should be that if Hamilton makes a mistake, he can't make up for it with 3 laps of 'Hammertime'; the Haas should be right there to swoop in, unless Mick makes a mistake of his own)

[Dare]

I liked the old days when a great driver could win
in a not so great car by his driving. Jackie in a March for
example

[rmassart]

I don't know that F1 has EVER been that close

Of course you are right, there have generally not been many winners in any given F1 season. I was looking for some stats on that but all I could find was this one, which seems to stop in 2016.  https://f1bytes.com/highest-number-of-winning-drivers-in-a-season/

We did get 11 winners back in 1982!

How many winners makes a season 'interesting'?

This is a good question. Probably not so much the number of winners. Obviously last season was pretty sensational, even if it did leave a sour taste in the end. I wonder if it's about reliability. Nowadays if the top two/three don't win, they come second or third because reliability is so high. So it is hard for the rest to keep touch.

Gone are the days where you could come second in many races and still hang in their. If you're not winning every other race, you're out of the season. Was it Keke Rosberg who became champion with just one win? I guess that was in 1982!

[Scott]

Merc still struggling with the bounce...Lewis might need a mouth guard to keep his teeth from shattering. 

I bet if they finish below 10th, or don't finish because something has shaken off the car, that we will see the Barcelona sidepods bolted back on and a new, less radical floor bolted on by the next race.  Midfield?  I doubt it, but if they fall behind in the first few races, they might not recover to be contenders.

Haas?  Not so sure, but it would be nice.  They need to get some attention to get a new title sponsor pretty quick.  If Gene has to return the Russian Rubles any time soon, it will be a hard kick in the shins and they'll just go shopping for another pay driver. 

[rmassart]

Haas may or may not have a good car, but the Russian sanctions surely can't be doing them any good at the moment. I don't see them in the top half.

Looks like I was certainly wrong on this one. Hopefully they can keep it up and find some other sponsors.