Mercedes continues to search for the key ingredient for success in the W15 development, after a hopeful start in the American leg of the 2024 season.
The second race since the autumn season has been completed. Yet, Mercedes struggled to find the highly sought race pace needed to repeat the successes they had before the break, such as in Red Bull Ring and Silverstone.
A rollercoaster of sessions
Feeder series star Andrea Kimi Antonelli took on an FP1 outing, his second after Monza. He took over the car of his future predecessor Lewis Hamilton. This time, it was rather described as more “calming”, compared to the previous session where he crashed out in Italy. After the crash on his home soil, the Italian ace was aiming for a clean run and to not push himself over the limit. His main focus was getting himself more accustomed to the F1 car before making his official debut next season.
However, FP1 saw its first red flag within a few minutes, as Antonelli unfortunately ran over some debris which caused minor damage to the floor of the W15. Mercedes managed to fix the component, but this posed a risk to Antonelli’s return to the track.
But 10 minutes later, actions returned to track. George Russell dominated the first session, while Antonelli managed to finish in P12.
Entering the FP2 session, luck was not on Russell’s side. His heavy crash on Turn 9 led to a delay in the session. While barrier repairs were undergoing, Russell was sent for a medical checkup. With no injuries sustained, Russell and Hamilton joined the rest of the grid on track as the second red flag switched to green. The younger Brit raced using an older version of the floor. Hamilton was P7, while Russell scored a rather disappointing P18.
The Silver Arrows managed to reverse those results in the third Free Practice session. They entered the top ten, with Hamilton and Russell scoring fifth and eighth respectively. They continued the fight to stay at the stop in qualifying. This is evident as Russell jumped three places up to fifth, however, his veteran teammate had to land behind him in sixth.
Lewis Hamilton expressed his frustrations over his qualifying performances this season, particularly in the Mexican round.
“The car felt good in FP3, [before] qualifying I didn’t change anything, then in qualifying it completely turns on its head, […] It’s definitely a frustrating qualifying session but that’s every qualifying session I’ve had this year.” – Hamilton after the qualifying session.
George Russell however seemed to be satisfied with his performance, despite the past crashes and the older upgrade.
“The lap was really, really strong, […] After everything that happened [on Friday] and Austin, it has been a whirlwind for us the last couple of weeks and now racing on a floor that we brought in Miami, 14 races ago, to be right up there only a tenth behind P3 was really strong and I’m pretty pleased with it.” – Russell after the qualifying session.
An intra-team battle and hopeful future
Despite the whirlwind on Friday and Saturday, both Mercedes drivers had an enjoyable competitive session with each other during the race.
The Mercedes pair both started on the third row, with Hamilton behind Russell.
Hamilton successfully overtook his teammate the moment the lights went out. Russell retrieved his position over the multi-world champion, and the battle of swapping places on track continued. Hamilton finally overtook Russell long after driver #63 encountered a damaged front wing flap after his pit stop.
Fortunately, the battles between the two was clean, with no signs of a collision.
Mercedes collected a double-point finish in Mexico City. Hamilton brought home fourth place, while Russell rounded up the top five.
Both drivers found the results delightful, while also alluding the difference of their race outcome to notable upgrade package differences. Hamilton was racing in the newer, updated version of the W15. Meanwhile, his younger teammate had to switch to the car with the older components.
Setting different priorities
Mexico City may not have set hopes for a title challenger, but it helped the team resume the hunt for the key to resolve their technical issues. Once found, this could possibly dismantle the barrier that prevented them from producing excellent results.
They also need to address the inconsistencies in their performances, otherwise, Mercedes might continue to be stagnant in the constructors’ standings.
The W15 saw the introduction of plenty of changes in its components from time to time. But unfortunately, those series of upgrades have still not created a perfect recipe for a successful and consistent post-break comeback.
The widely reported crashes undoubtedly resulted in concerns of the German outfit potentially exceeding the cost cap among the paddock. As the crashes back in Austin and Mexico were heavy, hence it greatly affected the repair costs. However, there were also suggestions that they are open to compromise for the rest of 2024.
Accepting that they’re currently the fourth fastest team, they are set to focus on solving any remaining issues before the season closes. This also most likely includes performance for the 2025 season, with the amount of data gathered across this year’s campaign, including Mexico.
No longer eyeing championship contention, Mercedes will be prioritizing fixing the car and being within the cost cap before finding their way back to the podium again. In order to stay at the top of the rankings, there may need plenty of reviewing and revamping race strategies alongside technical matters for future races.
