The German carmaker is struggling to get on top of the “gremlins” in the W13, which prevents it from unleashing the full potential it believes the car has.
He postponed all major updates to his car until he fully understood what was behind his difficulties, but that did not stop him from presenting some minor developments for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix this weekend.
Because the car suffers from overgrowth of guinea pigs, Mercedes is trying to improve on the causes of this phenomenon and the separation of airflow, which can cause problematic braking when the car approaches the ground.
Several of Mercedes’ enhancements to Imola have focused on this air-splitting factor.
Mercedes W13 detail
Photo: Uncredited
As seen above, he redesigned the upper casing of the side impact side members and its mirror housing.
The team says: “These geometry changes have been introduced to remove small sections of a separate air stream, thus improving airflow to the rear of the car.”
Mercedes has also reduced the curvature of the floor in front of the rear tire to help “eliminate a small area of airflow separation and improve the flow in the diffuser, which leads to an increase in rear load.”
Mercedes W13 detail
Photo: Giorgio Piola
There is also a revision of the end plate of the lower deflector, which helps to generate “increased local load on the lower deflector inside the rear wheels, which in turn increases the total load on the diffuser.”
After some cooling compromises that affected Lewis Hamilton in particular at the Australian Grand Prix, Mercedes added a third side swivel blade to the chassis in front of the side floor entrance (see below).
Mercedes W13 side part
Photo: Giorgio Piola
The team said: “These blades improve the quality of the air flow in the radiator duct on the side pad and therefore improve the overall cooling of the car.
Red Bull is making small changes
Red Bull has also made some small modifications to its car in an attempt to improve its performance.
It has added a secondary wing with a narrow scope to its floor keel, which is similar to the design of competitors, to help improve the generation of compressive force in this area.
Detail for Red Bull RB18
Photo: Giorgio Piola
The team also introduced additional cooling of the rear brakes, as the team had some problems with overheating in the early races.
Changes in the inlet and outlet ducts will provide more airflow for better cooling of brake materials and brake calipers.
There is no change in Ferrari
While Mercedes and Red Bull made some changes this weekend, Ferrari chose not to make any modifications.
Team director Mattia Binotto explained after the Australian Grand Prix that the compressed format in Imola, due to the sprint race, means that there is not enough time to evaluate the improvements and prepare for the event.
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