11/08/2025
NEWS STORY
Having reverted to an older-spec rear suspension, though pleased with the results, Mercedes remains confused as to why new spec didn't work.
Following a strong start to the season the German team introduced a new rear suspension at Imola, only to find itself struggling, albeit scoring a win in Montreal.
Kimi Antonelli, in particular, was unhappy with the upgraded suspension, though teammate George Russell also claimed the update resulted in a lack of stability.
"We need to really understand what is going on and why we've taken such a step backwards because these conditions today, you would argue, are ideal for us and our car," said Russell in Spa, "and once again, it's been the worst performance of the season.
"The car isn't feeling as nice to drive at the moment as it once did," he added. "It's lacking rear stability, whereas at the start of the year it was much better. I think Kimi and I are collectively making more mistakes because the car is more challenging to drive. So we need to sit down as a team.
"It may be as simple as reverting back some of the changes we've made," he said. "But, in Formula 1, it's never that simple. Obviously, we had the change of the front wing in Barcelona, we then went in a slightly different direction afterwards to sort of tackle the issue of the change of front wing. And clearly, since that point, we've taken a big step backwards. So, it could be as simple as just reverting back to something that we had earlier in the season."
In Hungary, having reverted to the older-spec suspension, Russell claimed his sixth podium of the season while Antonelli scored his first point in for races.
"If we make a new suspension, we're doing it to make the car go quicker," explains Andrew Shovlin in the team's latest video debrief. "Clearly there's something that wasn't right," he adds.
"There's areas where the drivers said the car is definitely better with that suspension, but when it came to stability in the fast corners, some of the corners where they're having to carry a lot of speed on entry, they didn't have confidence to push the car like they would like to.
"We always try to make things that improve the pace of the car and this didn't," he admits. "A lot of the work that has gone on now is to understand exactly what is it that has caused that problem. It's not something that's dead obvious, otherwise we wouldn't have had that issue in the first place.
"Budapest showed that we've got a good car when we land it in the right place," he adds. "And then hopefully, there'll be an opportunity to build on our tally of race wins.
"We had a great time in Montreal, there's other circuits that are a bit more like that coming up over the remaining ten races, so hopefully, we'll have a few more highlights."