TECH WEEKLY: How the Mercedes W15 was transformed from a 'bouncing handful' into a Belgian Grand Prix winner.
On the Friday of the Belgian Grand Prix even Mercedes would not have thought a 1-2 (before George Russell’s exclusion) was a likely outcome.
30 July 2024
Mark Hughes Giorgio Piola
Formula One - Official Site

The Mercedes W15, with its newly updated floor and diffuser, was proving to be a bouncing handful and definitely looked only the fourth-fastest car. On Sunday it was at least equal-fastest with McLaren.

‘Would not have thought a 1-2 was a likely outcome’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...rYB34TfqiSSuY7


Mercedes ahead of schedule with W15 exceeding F1 2024 performance targets
3 Aug 2024
Oliver Harden
PlanetF1.com

Andrew Shovlin has revealed the Mercedes W15 has exceeded expectations in F1 2024 after the team had targeted winning races only towards the end of the season. And he revealed the team had only hoped to challenge for victories and pole positions at the end of the season, with Mercedes now back to “really enjoying the racing” following their recent upturn in performance.

He said: “The main thing is the progress. Where we were in the early races in Bahrain and in Jeddah, it was difficult to look at the car and understand what it was you had to do to make it quick.”

“We could see it had certain strengths, but it also had plenty of weaknesses. The team has responded brilliantly to that challenge. We know where we want to get to in terms of performance level.”

‘Progress’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/merced...rmance-targets


Tech Analysis | How a step back on the updates allowed the W15 to win in Spa
1 August 2024
Francesco Bianchi
GPblog.com

This article looks at why the decision was a positive turning point for the Brackley team’s weekend. After achieving 2 victories in the last three races, Mercedes arrived in Spa with a new upgrade package. This included some major changes to the floor and diffuser and some minor changes (track-specific) to the front wing and the halo.

It was possible to appreciate a floor edge that had a design very similar to the one adopted by Red Bull. The previous version, in fact, was characterised by a raised profile under which five vortex generators were housed. In the new version, however, the vortex generators have become four and two small "fins" have been added (one above the other) at the beginning of the floor edge and are connected directly to the floor by a metal support, with a very similar design to the one adopted on the RB20.

‘Step back on the updates allowed the W15 to win’;

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/29304...win-in-sp.html


Mercedes reveal the major W15 turning point with two key upgrades identified
6 Aug 2024
Thomas Maher
PlanetF1.com

Mercedes’ Andrew Shovlin has revealed how the “not very good” baseline of the W15 has been transformed over the first half of this season. “We didn’t really bring developments to the early races of the year, so we started to pull forward developments with a new floor in Miami,” he said when asked about what had started to click for Mercedes to bring about the transformation.

“We then pulled forward a front wing that was due later in the season to [where] we had one on George’s car in Monaco. I think, by that point, you could see that we had a car that was definitely one that you could work with and improve around that time of Monaco, and then, what we have seen since then, is a pretty impressive delivery of updates to every single track.”

Now with a firmer grasp on how to rectify some of the issues that have plagued the W15, Shovlin said this has a knock-on effect in terms of making the path forward even clearer. As you solve problems with the handling of the car, the challenge actually becomes simple and you get more clarity about what you want to do next,” he said.

‘Impressive delivery of updates’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/merced...point-problems


Russell explains why Mercedes took Spa upgrade off W15
Mercedes' floor upgrade was taken off both cars ahead of qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix.
28 July 2024
Jake Nichol Ian Parkes
RacingNews365

George Russell has detailed exactly why Mercedes opted to remove the floor upgrades it brought to the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of qualifying. "We've struggled here for the last three years, and the fluctuation of all the teams from circuit to circuit is pretty substantial," he told media including RacingNews365. "It was important for us to revert back to something we know to see if it is a challenge for Spa for us, which I am pretty confident it is, as opposed to an upgrade problem.”

"The upgrades were nothing substantial, it is just part of the development of the course of the year, and it gives us time to review the data and go from there, but I am pretty confident the upgrades are working as expected. It's been three years in a row that we've been very quick at Silverstone and struggled at Spa.”

"On paper, you'd say they're not exactly the same type of circuit, but have high and low speed corners, and we need to try and understand [why we struggle at Spa]. There seems to be something inherent in the cars at certain circuits, like Red Bull always fly here, and this is always probably their strongest circuit of the season along with Austria. For us, Silverstone and Barcelona are the sort of circuits we tend to go very well at, so we need to understand that."

‘Mercedes' floor upgrade was taken off’;

https://racingnews365.com/russell-ex...pgrade-off-w15


The hidden W15 changes that have helped push major F1 breakthrough
9 Aug 2024
Uros Radovanovic
PlanetF1.com

The F1 2024 season has been a wild ride for Mercedes. They began the year as the fourth fastest team, but by the last race in Belgium, they had emerged as the fastest. At the beginning of this season, the W15 was the fourth fastest car, often lagging behind Ferrari, McLaren, and especially Red Bull. Their best result before the Monaco GP in May was P5 at the season opener in Bahrain.

The biggest visible upgrade for the W15 came in Monaco, where only George Russell tested the new front wing. The ‘legality wire’ on the last element was replaced with a more traditional approach. The new front wing had a completely different shape, with the second element being notably longer. This change allowed the W15 to generate more downforce, especially in various corners, resulting in better and more consistent track performance.

Another key but less noticed improvement was the continuous changes to the car’s floor during the season, with the most significant one at Imola. These changes were hidden from public view, but they significantly improved the W15’s performance. However, solving these tasks led engineers to better understand the ground effect concept and create a reliable and consistent floor.

‘Wild ride’;

https://www.planetf1.com/features/hi...1-breakthrough


Mercedes still confident in upgraded W15 floor despite Spa ditch
02/08/2024
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Mercedes says it will reintroduce at the Dutch Grand Prix its W15’s upgraded floor, despite abandoning the element after Friday’s running at Spa-Francorchamps. “I think we made a drastic change in order to recover some of the performance, but we believe it wasn't the floor,” Wolff explained at Spa last weekend, quoted by Motorsport.com.

“It will be quite interesting when we put everything on the car in Zandvoort and correlate, and see what it does. Then we can be sure whether it's the mechanical bit that we thought, or if there are a few interactions aerodynamically and mechanically that didn't work.”

“I think we need to remain both feet on the ground,” he explained. “The swings of performance, you see a trend definitely that's positive on our side. With some other teams, you see a negative trend. But I don't think we should really pre-empt how the second half of the season is going to go. I think it's a tough fight, and there are four teams that are giving it everything.”

‘Mercedes still confident’;

https://f1i.com/news/515823-mercedes...spa-ditch.html


Mercedes reveals 2025 F1 car will be ‘close cousin’ of the W15
7 Aug 2024
Taylor Powling
Motorsport Week

Mercedes has revealed that the team’s 2025 Formula 1 car will be a “close cousin” of the current W15 amid the impending sizeable regulation change coming in 2026. And while he has admitted that the W15’s successor will be a “close cousin” to the current car, Shovlin has divulged that some crucial areas are still to be determined.

“We haven’t made decisions yet on does the chassis stay the same? Does the gearbox stay the same?” he highlighted. “The reality is you probably can’t change everything. We’re at a stage now where we’re trying to evaluate those to look for the best return for your spend in the cost cap.”

“However, I think, aerodynamically, our car and most people’s cars will be an evolution of what we have today – there’ll be significant changes on there but you won’t want to change the architecture of the car and take a big hit in the wind tunnel that you then have to recover – I don’t think many people will be doing that.”

‘Close cousin’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/...in-of-the-w15/