Developments are on the agenda for the Mercedes W12

Dominated by the Red Bull RB16B, the Mercedes W12 should however receive developments this year, despite the prospect of the change in technical regulations that Toto Wolff's troops must face.

Published on 30/06/2021 à 10:19

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Developments are on the agenda for the Mercedes W12

The Mercedes W12 currently seems to lag behind the Red Bull RB16B. © DPPI / J. Felipe

No victory in four races for one Mercedes. here is a statistic never seen since the advent of the hybrid era. The fault has one Red Bull RB16B of the fastest, entrusted to a Max Verstappen in almost a state of grace recently, as evidenced by his clear victory last Sunday at the Grand Prix of Styria.

Lagging behind in terms of pure performance during the last meetings, the car starry does not seem to have said its last word in terms of development, as admitted by James Allison, technical manager of Mercedes.

“We have a reasonable number of things that will make our car faster in the races to come, explains the Briton on the podcast F1 Nation. Let's hope they prove sufficient. »

Statements which however appear to contradict the remarks made by the Team Principal Toto wolff, who indicated after the Styrian Grand Prix that “We stopped developing this year because we think next year is so important that we have to get it right. And Red Bull continues to add elements. »

To which James Allison offers an explanation. "I don't think these two things are at odds with each other, continues the technical manager. I don't think Toto said precisely that.

What he points out is that next year's rules are a huge and difficult project and it requires a lot of attention. Most of our factory's strength has been focused on apprehension of performance for next year, but that doesn't mean there's nothing left ahead of this shift in focus.

Plus, it's not the whole factory. We (Brackley) are just one of two factories, there is also the specialist Power Unit factory and there is a bit more to come on that front. »

Before seeing the potential progress of the W12, Toto Wolff's troops will have to face Red Bull once again on home ground at the Red Bull Ring this weekend for the Austrian Grand Prix. For the same scenario?

Discover the full report and analysis of the Styrian Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondent in Spielberg, in issue 2318 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version and on newsstands.