WE FIGHT OUR CORNER, BOYS
LEWIS HAMILTON and George Russell have been ordered to be at their very best for this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix to help their Mercedes team dig themselves out of their latest hole.
Despite optimism for their W15 car, the start of the new Formula 1 season has again been underwhelming for the Silver Arrows.
And the most recent race in Saudi Arabia highlighted a significant weakness of the car.
But team principal Toto Wolff (below) and his lieutenants are at a loss as to why their machine struggles so much in high-speed corners.
More on-track running will give the team data which it can use to help identify and fix the problem.
And, for that to happen, Wolff has warned his drivers they will have to be at the top of their game.
He said: “We’ve been hard at work since Jeddah building on the learnings from the first two races.
“It’s encouraging to see the potential in the W15 but there are also clear areas of improvement.
“We have looked competitive in low and medium-speed corners but high-speed has been a weakness so far.
“We have been working hard to understand why our performance hasn’t reflected our expectations. Improving that is a major focus.
“We hope to make some initial progress for Melbourne, and that work will guide our development in the weeks ahead.
“We left points on the table in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, we started off each weekend strongly, running our usual practice programmes, but couldn’t deliver on that initial promise.
“With the chasing pack being so close, maximising the potential of the car each weekend is key. Albert Park gives us another chance to show what we can do.”
Meanwhile, ahead of the Melbourne weekend, Mercedes have signed two Ferrari staff members to bolster their development work behind the scenes.
Simone Resta has agreed to become the Brackleybased squad’s strategic development director.
And Enrico Sampo has left the Scuderia to take charge of Mercedes’ performance software applications.
Resta in particular is seen as a key addition to Wolff’s leadership team when he links up with Mercedes in 2025, after serving a period of gardening leave.
Most recently, the 53-year-old served as technical director of Ferrari’s customer team Haas but left in January.
It was believed he would be returning to the Italian team, but has decided to link up again with former colleague James Allison.
They worked together during the Briton’s fouryear spell working for Ferrari between 2013 and 2016, when Allison was technical director and Resta chief designer.
Mercedes hope his appointment can help the team return to title contention by 2026, when a new set of F1 car design rules comes into force.