Amid Mercedes F1’s ongoing struggles, even Adrian Newey, the sport’s top engineer, might find the current challenges too daunting, says team boss Toto Wolff.
In Miami, following Newey’s decision to leave Red Bull a year before his contract ends amid current power struggles within the team, the renowned technical guru was seen in conversation with Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll.
He also met with Ferrari boss Frédéric Vasseur in London just before the two flew to the United States for this weekend’s event.
However, Newey has not been strongly linked with a move to Mercedes.
“I would never say he is not an option at Mercedes because Adrian Newey is an incredible engineer,” Wolff admits on the subject.
“But even the greatest magician would struggle to solve our problems right now.”
Indeed, although it totally dominated F1 throughout the previous rule period from 2014 to 2021, Mercedes has so far failed to master the new ground effect regulations.
“And there is a science to these tires that we don’t understand at the moment. We don’t know how to get them into the best operating window, but that can’t be an excuse because others understand it better.”
“We see that our competitors are making progress and we find it incredibly slow and unsatisfying. It’s really frustrating and really annoying to keep falling into the same problem.”
Mercedes unveiled improvements to its car in Miami this weekend, but George Russell admitted yesterday that his team might have “overcompensated” for some issues (read here).
Newey’s Magic Insufficient for Mercedes Woes. Newey’s Magic Insufficient for Mercedes Woes
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