RaceFans Round-up: “Difficult” to judge upgrade’s side-effects
In the round-up: Mercedes are still analysing whether an update they introduced three races ago upset the balance of their car in some conditions.
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In brief
“Difficult to assess” upgrade impact – Mercedes
Mercedes’ head of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin admits their performance in the last two races hasn’t been as good since they started using their new floor on Sundays.
“It’s important to note this was not a very large gain that we were expecting, it was quite a small package that we introduced, but we’re confident that it is generating that load,” he said in a video released by the team. “The more difficult question that we need to answer is: Is there anything subtle in the handling characteristics that this package might be doing that we haven’t anticipated?
“That’s quite difficult to assess because the car will perform differently track-to-track. At some tracks it’s been working very well, other circuits we’ve struggled with the balance of the car regardless of the aerodynamic spec. And, yes, the last two races haven’t been as good as some of the ones that preceded it.
“It may well be that’s just the normal variation from track-to-track, but that’s what we’re going to be looking at over the next few days.”
Pirelli test at two venues
Pirelli held tests at two circuits in Italy yesterday. Oliver Bearman completed 167 laps of Ferrari’s test track Fiorano, where the circuit’s artificial watering system was used to evaluate new specifications of intermediate and full-wet tyres.
RB ran at Monza, where running began on a damp track which dried out. Liam Lawson was limited to 76 laps by a technical problem.
Santander switch to F1 sponsorship
Ferrari sponsor Santander, which will sever its ties with the team at the end of the year, has agreed a multi-year deal to sponsor Formula 1 from 2025.
Grenfell report names ex-Mercedes sponsor
Building insulation manufacturer Kingspan, whose logos appeared on Mercedes’ cars throughout the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, was named yesterday in the official report into the deaths of 72 people in the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire. Survivors of the catastrophe and relatives of the dead criticised Mercedes for agreeing a sponsorship deal with the company four years after the fire, leading to the deal’s cancellation shortly after the race.
The report said Kingspan made misleading claims about the limitations of a product used for around 5% of the insulation on the tower. Similar products manufactured by other companies were also found to have contributed to the blaze.
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On this day in motorsport
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