Mercedes believes that the new wing used at Imola is better than the previous one, but this does not remove doubts about the other innovations that were introduced on the track by Enzo and Dino Ferrari. Additional testing will be required to determine if these played a significant role in the problems the W16 had during the race.
Mercedes arrived at Imola with several novelties on the W16 car, including a new front wing, flaps on the two front suspension arms and a profiled engine cover with openings (“gills”) that allow better ventilation of the Mercedes power unit in hotter races.
The front wing was introduced earlier than planned (it was originally scheduled for Barcelona, ​​when the FIA ​​would begin more rigorous checks on wing flexibility).
According to team boss Bradley Lord (who replaced the absent Toto Wolff), the new wing was introduced at Imola because it provides better performance compared to the previous one.
“We brought the new front wing here because it provides better performance than the old one, so we want to improve the performance of the car as soon as possible,” said Lord.
As for aerodynamic innovations related to the suspension and hood, Lord reserves the right to judge for now. The German team decided to thoroughly analyze the data collected at Imola to determine if these changes really helped the W16 or perhaps even contributed to the difficulties the Brackley cars had during the race, especially on long stints.
“In terms of feedback on the upgrades, everything was relatively clear over the weekend, but now, with the race data, we need to analyse it and understand what the impact of the different changes we made was – whether any of them may have caused a deterioration in the pace in the race.”
“We don’t think that’s the case at the moment, but of course we have to remain open to all possibilities considering that we weren’t competitive this afternoon. So that will certainly be an aspect that we will examine in detail and make appropriate decisions based on that.”
