How Mercedes upgrades have proved an instant hit at Austin

After a disappointing time since the Formula 1 summer break, George Russell’s front row start for the United States Grand Prix’s sprint race has lifted hopes that a new upgrade package has hit the spot.

Having faced some uncertainties over a Spa floor that was taken off, put back on and then taken off once again, Mercedes does seem in a much better place now.

The changes Mercedes has introduced at the United States Grand Prix are extensive and have been designed to work in unison as they reach back from the front wing all the way down the car.

A new spanwise flap distribution results in the front wing providing a different ratio of performance between outwash and downforce generation.

In concert of this, which has been a feature of this regulation period, the upper wishbone fairing has also been adjusted.

Further downstream, the team has made the switch to an overbite sidepod solution, whilst retaining the P-shaped inlet below (albeit pushed back) and the subsequent bodywork adjusted accordingly.

This will, of course, have a bearing on the airflow’s performance around the sidepod itself, including the undercut.

In an effort to increase performance from the floor and forward fences, the innermost of which has also been modified, the edge wing has six strakes now on the upturned surface, rather than five. 

Interestingly, the latest addition, which is mounted at the front of the edge wing, has more of a hook appearance, folding round and back under itself to help collect and roll up the airflow.

Further downstream, additional cooling capacity has been added too, with outlets to be found around the forward leg of the upper wishbone.

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin explained that while the floor was new, it was not a dramatic departure from what the team had used before.

“I mean, it’s not a sort of fundamentally different concept,” he said. “It’s an evolution of that floor from Spa.

“It’s not the only change on the car but hopefully it’ll be a big enough step that the performance will be obvious.”

Asked if this upgrade could be categorised as a corrective evolution of the previous Spa change that did not work, Shovlin said: “No, because in the wind tunnel, they’ve just been continuing down and down a development path.

“And I think a lot of our challenge is not really down to what we’ve been doing in the wind tunnel development. But for the aerodynamicists, they’ve just been continually working.

“The packages are just set at a defined point in time where you commit it to carbon. But from their point of view, they’re just things changing every single day.”