Why Spa can reveal the most about Mercedes’ powers of resurrection

After a difficult start to Formula 1's ground effect-era, Mercedes has shown signs of recovery in recent races by regularly finishing on the podium and even taking pole last time out in Hungary. With more time to understand its W13 car and its improvement in recent races, plus a new technical directive coming into force for Spa, the Belgian GP could be a crucial barometer of its progress

Matt Kew Aug 24, 2022, 8:59 AM

Upd: Aug 24, 2022, 9:46 AM

Attempting to savour the final days before travelling to Spa, perhaps Toto Wolff tuned into Monday Night Football earlier this week. After all, the boss of eight-time Formula 1 constructors’ champion Mercedes has something of an appreciation for Manchester United, the Austrian having revealed he used the club as a case study to understand why great teams decline. If he did watch, Wolff will have seen the Red Devils triumph over Liverpool chiefly by outworking their fierce rivals.

The work ethic of his own Silver Arrows squad is without question, and has garnered constant praise from drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes having zero need to bench its talismanic 37-year-old…). Only it will have taken the grand prix team far longer to have escaped the doldrums to taste victory this season, should it even get there. Nevertheless, events in Belgium can offer the greatest read of just how extreme the ground-effect recovery has been.

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Author Matt Kew

Matt Kew is Autosport’s F1 Editor, a role he has held since March 2022 following stints covering Formula E, Extreme E and the British Touring Car Championship.

Matt joined Autosport in 2018 to work predominantly on the magazine, but his relentless quoting of Alan Partridge meant office colleagues soon thought he would be better-suited to increased field work.

Needless to say, Matt had the last laugh when he won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award in 2019.

His interest in motorsport was sparked by regular trips to watch ASCAR crash around Rockingham’s banked oval.

Matt read politics and philosophy at the University of Sheffield - receiving first-class honours for his dissertation assessing the lack of female participation in top-tier motor racing.

He covered a wide variety of national race and rally meetings for Autosport as a freelancer before joining full-time. His best efforts to argue the merits of historic racing are undone by a questionable taste in music and James Bond actors.