Mercedes has revealed their updates for this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, which are intended to cure the “underlying balance” that has been “troubling” with the car.
Heading into Miami, Lewis Hamilton is enduring his worst start to the F1 season and Mercedes team-mate George Russell has just one top-five result, leaving the team fourth in the constructors’ championship.
Hamilton, who is leaving the team at the end of this year, was clearly frustrated after being knocked out in Q1 at the Chinese Grand Prix and fought hard to finish ninth in the race.
The seven-time world champion came on the radio several times about the car’s lack of speed as he tried to come through the field, where he was on a “bleeding” lap as the Shanghai International Circuit highlighted Mercedes’ struggles in the long and high-speed corners. Time according to technical director James Allison.
“The challenge we face in the coming races is to try and move the set-up of the car and the pieces we bring to the car so that (the balance) is improved,” Allison said in Mercedes’ latest debrief video. .
“We have got upgrade packages for the car but we hope that will correct the underlying balance that is troubling us.
“It’s painful to talk like this after a weekend like China, I have to remember that when we implement those things in the future, when we get back on the front foot more and when the races happen. We’re making progress where the pleasure of talking about it is huge and that day can’t come soon enough.”
Mercedes plans ‘ambitious’ Miami sprint
A big positive came from Mercedes’ weekend in Shanghai when Hamilton started on the front row for the sprint and finished second behind Max Verstappen in the shortened race.
Miami hosts the second sprint weekend of the season, so Mercedes will have just one hour of practice to gather data and understand their aerodynamic upgrades before heading straight into sprint qualifying on Friday night.
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Lewis Hamilton faces challenges with Mercedes W15 during Chinese Grand Prix
“Every weekend you’re going to learn things. That’s one of the truths of F1, it’s a learning race and even if you have a factory full of equipment, you’ve got a load of computing power, a load of people thinking about it, there’s no better place to learn about a car than on the track doing how it’s designed. Allison added.
“We’re one of the most famous front limited circuits from China to Miami, it’s a track more at the rear limited end of the spectrum and our challenge is to make sure we don’t try and replay China in Miami. It’s a very different beast and demands different things from a car than China does.
“With this second cherry on top we face the joy of another sprint weekend and we definitely learned that if you are ambitious this weekend, be ambitious in the sprint race and then tune it out. The main race, rather than the opposite.”
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Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Toto Wolff react to challenging Chinese Grand Prix
Mercedes redesigned most of their car over the winter after going winless for a season for the first time in a decade.
They abandoned their ‘no sidepods’ concepts 12 months ago but the 2024 car is still a long way behind Red Bull, while Ferrari and McLaren have also moved up the pecking order.
“Hopefully we’ll land the car in a good place, the updates we’ll bring to Miami will serve us well on the grid, which will be really close in qualifying,” Allison said.
“A few hundredths of what we’re fighting on the war side can sometimes make a difference, and a couple of tenths can make all the difference in the world. So looking forward to seeing how that plays out.”
Sky Sports F1’s Live Miami GP Schedule
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A look back at some of the funniest celebrity encounters at the Miami Grand Prix
Thursday May 2
6.30 pm: Drivers press conference
Friday May 3
3pm: F1 Academy Practice 1
5pm: Miami GP Practice One (Session starts at 5.30pm)
8.20pm: F1 Academy Practice 2
9pm: Miami GP Sprint Qualifying (Session starts at 9:30pm)
Saturday May 4
3.25pm: F1 Academy Qualifying
4pm: Miami GP Sprint (race starts at 5pm)
6.30pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook
7.05pm: F1 Academy Race 1
8pm: Miami GP qualifying build-up
9pm: Miami GP Qualifying
11pm: Ted’s qualifying notebook
Sunday May 5
6.05pm: F1 Academy Race 2
7.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Miami GP build-up
9pm: Miami Grand Prix
11pm: Checkered flag: Miami GP reaction
Midnight: Ted’s Notebook
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