F1 | Miami GP | Wolff: "We are not satisfied, but we believe in our concept, that has the potential for us to race at the front"
After qualifying, team principal Toto Wolff opened up on different matters, including Mercedes' performance, porpoising and projections for the future.
What Mercedes has been experiencing since the start of this 2022 season cannot be defined as a rosy period, after years of absolute domination.
The Silver Arrows are having undeniable problems with the single-seaters, which greatly affect the performance of the drivers. One above all is that of porpoising, a problem for which few teams have found a concrete solution, albeit not definitive.
On Friday, during the first two free practice sessions, the German team showed a very positive pace, which however was not seen during FP3 and yesterday's qualifying.
In this regard, in a conference with Motorlat and other selected media, Mercedes' team principal, Toto Wolff, explained:
"Qualifying certainly wasn't satisfactory. Positions six and 12 are not where we should be, nor what we were hoping for after a solid Friday yesterday."
"It went there when we were trying to optimize downforce levels before FP3. That got us back into bouncing and we weren't able to turn it off before qualifying, even though we went back to where we were on Friday are."
Tough one for @GeorgeRussell63 today. 💔 Looked so good yesterday, but the car just wasn't there today from our side.
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 7, 2022
We need to work out why that is. And try and make a step forward tomorrow. Because we know from Friday that the potential is there. 💪 pic.twitter.com/pkLw6YyoQ7
During yesterday's FP3, George Russell complained of bouncing in different areas of the track, naming the problem by different names. Toto Wollf, when asked if the issue was different from porpoising, said jokingly:
“I think we are now specialists in bouncing and we can divide that in various capacities, whether it’s porpoising or bouncing or bottoming, it’s the full range.
“Fundamentally it’s always the same problem.”
He then explained the changes made to the cars, which might have affected the performance:
“We made what we thought was a small change from yesterday going into FP3,” Wolff said.
“We were just trying to optimise the downforce but the car went backwards. So for qualifying we undid that but still the bouncing was back, which hurt us in the braking zones and in what the tyres are doing.”
Mercedes does not give up, everyone continues to work and give their best in order to be competitive again in the top positions of the grid.
“We believe in our concept,”- the Austrian stated - “It has the potential for us to race at the front.
“But it is a very sensitive concept and it’s very difficult to get it into the window, because the floor is much more exposed than on other cars.”
“We haven’t yet capitulated, we are not ready yet to go back to simpler solutions.”
“There will come a moment soon where we have to decide what to do for our 2023 car. But our understanding grows. This has been an experimental weekend and we are more knowledgeable each time,” he concluded.
