MIAMI — When the F1 grid arrived here in Florida, Mercedes found itself in uncharted territory.
We are looking at many teams in the constructors’ ranking.
The Silver Arrows arrived in Miami in fourth place, 44 points behind third-placed McLaren and 99 points behind second-placed Ferrari. Even more frightening is the fact that Mercedes will start the weekend with a whopping 143 points lead over leaders Red Bull.
However, during Thursday’s media session, both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton expressed optimism that the series of upgrades the team is bringing to Miami could provide an on-track boost. “There’s been an upgrade here, a small upgrade coming this weekend. I’m really looking forward to seeing the development progress. And hopefully we’ll get the machine in a period where it’ll work a little better. I think we can do that,” Hamilton said at Thursday’s FIA press conference.
As for Russell, he told the media: SB Nation, that the team is learning logs during the first weekend of the season and bringing those lessons to the track. “I think I learned a lot from the past races and I think I’m in a better position now,” Russell said Thursday. “We know where the car works best.”
If Friday’s lone practice session is any indication, they may be right.
In the early stages, the Mercedes duo emerged into the top three, with Hamilton in third and Russell just ahead in second. Both drivers recorded that time on medium compound. As other teams started qualifying simulations on soft tyres, these times ended up shuffling around within the top 10 a bit, but when Mercedes fitted soft tires with less than 10 minutes remaining, Russell moved into first place. Hamilton was now third.
At the end of practice, both drivers remained near the top of the timesheets, with Russell fourth and Hamilton seventh.
Regarding the upgrades the team brought to Miami, Mercedes listed four upgrades in its FIA filing, including upgrades to the floor body, cooling louvers, front wing and front suspension. Perhaps most striking were the changes to the floor body, which the team described as:[c]Affects floor roof volume and floor edge detail (feathers are added to the floor edge wings). ”
Due to FIA regulations, we are unable to share photos of the changes in the pit lane from today onwards, but the legendary Albert Fabrega is here to share them with you.
According to the team, this upgrade “…changes increase local floor loads and also improve flow to the rear of the vehicle and the diffuser.” Changes to the floor edges reduce pressure locally, which in turn Increase. [forward] floor load. ”
If Friday’s practice session is any indication, this upgrade certainly has the potential to give Mercedes the step forward they are looking for.
