13 September 2023 , 11:24
869
0
Mercedes seem to have "no clue" how to catch Red Bull as Max Verstappen continues to run rings around Lewis Hamilton.
Not so long ago, it was the Silver Arrows who were kings of Formula 1. Mercedes won eight consecutive constructors' titles while Hamilton was crowned drivers' champion six times during that period.
But times have changed and the balance of power has shifted. Red Bull are now the ones in control and a long way ahead of anyone else in terms of performance, winning every race so far this season.
Mercedes have made notable progress, especially since abandoning the 'zeropod' aerodynamic concept and re-designing the W14. Still, though, neither Hamilton nor George Russell have come close to matching the race pace of the Red Bulls.
Instead, their fight has been for second place. It is one the Silver Arrows are currently winning, as they sit below Red Bull in the standings and above nearest rivals Ferrari, with customer teams Aston Martin and McLaren giving chase.
Sebastian Vettel warns of looming F1 ban and is "very worried about the future"
Speaking after the Italian Grand Prix, in which the Brits finished fifth and sixth, long-time F1 journalist Peter Windsor - who has previously worked with Williams and Ferrari - spoke about Mercedes' current situation. "You've got to say, if you're the factory Mercedes team, the customer teams are uncomfortably close, aren't they?" he said.
"And when Mercedes have to say post-race [at Monza], 'Wow, we were the third-quickest car after Red Bull and Ferrari', it wasn't that brilliant. I mean, who did they beat? Their customers, basically – that's not much to write home about.
"The fact that they are writing home about that just shows you the trouble that Mercedes are in and they don't seem – on the face of it, what we're seeing at the moment in the raw evidence – to have any clue yet how to do what Red Bull are doing.
"They seem to have a clue on how to get more downforce into the car or more downforce out of the car – but do they really know how to run the ride heights at any given circuit given the parameters of some of the weekends with the Sprint race?
"And do they really know what sort of active-ride rate to have on the springs at the front of the rear if they're trying to get one softer than the other? Do they really know how to build kerb strike into a car that's got a perfect set-up?
"Do they know all that? I don't think they do. I don't think Mercedes have that, because if they did by now they would have put it together, I think, and they're so up and down."