The vital discrepancy creating F1 headaches for Mercedes
Mercedes has gone from perpetual winner to rank outsider in the space of a winter – and an aerodynamic phenomenon known as ‘porpoising’ is said to be to blame. But what does that actually mean and how can the team lift itself out of such a drastic competitive slump?
The team that has won a record eight consecutive constructors’ championships since the start of Formula 1’s hybrid-engine era is floundering at the start of the 2022 season.
At the time of writing, after the Australian GP, the W13 is an average of 0.847s off the pace in qualifying. Ferrari and Red Bull are in a league of their own at the front, and Lewis Hamilton appears to have no more of a chance of avenging the controversial loss of an eighth world title in Abu Dhabi last year than Max Verstappen’s new rival, Charles Leclerc, did of winning a first at the same point a year ago.
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