Ross Brawn says that Mercedes continues to struggle with tyre wear – Formula 1 news
Team principal of Mercedes Ross Brawn believes that their car is doing great however, they are struggling with the tyres.
Mercedes is working on improvements to cater to the balancing problems and will be having added push in the upcoming Italian Grand Prix by installing Monza-specific package.
He said that he is not aware of any noticeable deficiencies of the car except some issues with tyres. He added that their car was a good step forward in many areas and they were able to demonstrate it in the beginning of the current 2012 season.
Additionally, he said that some of the changes they have adopted to improve the efficiency of the tyres have not helped them in their qualifying performances.
Brawn said, “I think we've struggled a little bit to follow the needs of these tyres and some of the changes we have had to make to improve the durability in races has not necessarily helped our qualifying performance.”
Furthermore, he said that in the first half of the current season they were able to exhibit impressive performances in some of the races while in some races they struggled. He added that have been unable to keep that balance, in the latter half of the season,
between impressive performances and the areas they have struggled in.
“Earlier in the year we had strong qualifying performances and in some of the races we struggled, perhaps in the second half of the year we've done the opposite and we've moved a little bit too much in one direction,” he added.
Brawn said that there are a lot of non-linear effects with the tyres and if they achieve a little bit down force they will actually achieve more than would have expected, because the tyres would then get rightly adjusted as they are designed.
Moreover, he said that they have a Monza-specific package for the Italian GP. He added that the package would be low down force therefore, there would be low drag. Additionally, he said that they will have a strong push in the few upcoming races and the
change will be noticeable.
The team principal said that they are suffering from mid corner understeer issues and when they try to introduce appropriate solution they start facing corner entrance and exit problems. He added that it is a traditional problem because when you start getting
the maximum out of a car, it starts behaving in a particular manner.
He added that the range of balance in the car is too great at the moment and it can be further improved by the aerodynamics or mechanical side. He said that they are working on both possibilities.
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