Andrew Shovlin: W14 will soon see visible changes

After an unsuccessful performance in Bahrain at Mercedes’ Brackley base, a meeting was held between leading engineers, team management and drivers to discuss a way out of the crisis. British tabloids reported that the team’s technical director, Mike Elliott, was even given an ultimatum.

Mercedes did not comment in any way on such publications, but the team’s press service gave the floor to Endoy Shovlin, who spoke about the technical department’s immediate plans.

Andrew Shovlin: “People usually use the word concept to describe the side pontoons of our car. Toto Wolff recently said that we will review their design in the next races. Given the gap with the leaders, we are planning more radical changes, but the team will need time as all decisions have to be tested in a wind tunnel.

It is impossible to rebuild a car overnight. Significant changes in these areas require a lot of restructuring. The team is looking for ways to improve the car and considering possible options. I can say that you will notice visible changes in the W14 in the coming races.

Shovlin said the car’s main issues are related to a lack of downforce, especially at the front, and excessive rubber wear.

“We have a lot of work to do,” continued the Mercedes chief race engineer. – The gap in qualifying turned out to be quite big – we lost more than five tenths of a second to the leaders. In the race the delay was even greater, aggravated by the degradation factor of rubber. The more the car slides, the more the tires heat up and the harder it is to control their condition.

We have a lot to sort out, but the most important task is to cope with the long-range degradation of rubber. Last year we were strong in this aspect. It is clear that something is missing now and we have to keep working.

Another reason to lag behind the leaders is that the pace of the car itself is not good enough. At the moment we are looking at what can be done in the short and long term to reach a higher position.”