The temperamental nature of the Mercedes W15 car was exemplified at this month’s races in Japan and China as improvements in one key area raised problems in anotherGeorge Russell and Lewis Hamilton desperately want a consistently fast Mercedes carGeorge Russell and Lewis Hamilton desperately want a consistently fast Mercedes carLewis Hamilton and George Russell reported having the best-feeling Mercedes car since 2021 earlier this month – but that came at a cost.Mercedes’ W15 car has proven to be just as temperamental as its predecessors. The Silver Arrows have spent the season so far experimenting with setups to try to unlock the most pace – with little significant success to date.Explaining their predicament, team boss Toto Wolff used this month’s races in Japan and China as examples. At Suzuka, Mercedes discovered that they had unlocked significant pace in high-speed corners.However, that came at cost in the low speeds where gains made elsewhere were wipes away. So the effort and resources that had been put into making improvements had yielded no overall reward.Lewis Hamilton will be watching closely as Ferrari plan ‘game-changer’ Miami GP upgradeF1 race-winner returns to action after open-heart surgery and Lewis Hamilton supportWolff explained: “In the high speed we were super competitive, also in Suzuka through the Esses, and it was day and night compared to what we had before. The drivers were speaking about it as the best car they had in the last two-and-a-half years.”Then we really didn’t perform in the low speeds. So, you gain half a second in the high speed, but you lose half a second in the low speed. The equation is back to zero, so that is something we need to improve. We are beyond the point of understanding and we just need to improve now.”That is what it needs to hop to, and we have all the facts on the table. We know what we tweaked in order to solve the high-speed, and we know where the car was before to be quick in the low-speed. Now we just need to bolt the car together that does both of them.”Watch F1 liveWatch Formula One on Sky SportsCatch all the action from Formula One on Sky Sports and get exclusive access to races, qualifying and much more for every Grand Prix. From Max Verstappen to Lewis Hamilton, you won’t miss a lap on Sky Sports.
