Former Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill has shared his concerns about ‘fundamental’ issues with Mercedes’s 2024 F1 car.
It’s been an underwhelming season for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in particular after the first two Grand Prix.
Posting on Instagram, Hill explained his worries about the development of the W15.
Hill explains worry about ‘fundamental’ Mercedes issue
The 2024 season is set to be a year of transition for Mercedes even if they didn’t expect it to be at the end of last year.
Toto Wolff was delivered the news by Lewis Hamilton that he would be moving to Ferrari a month before the campaign started.
The seven-time world champion hasn’t won a race since Saudi Arabia in 2021 and feels he’s got a better chance of adding to that tally racing in red.
George Russell struggled in 2023 but has had a much better start this year, outperforming his more experienced teammate in Bahrain and Jeddah.
However, Mercedes appear to be dealing with ‘fundamental’ issues with the car and Hill is particularly worried about one aspect of those problems.
Hamilton suggested his car was ‘miles off’ last weekend and they were slower than Alpine and Williams in one area of the track.
While their rivals continue to make steps forward, Mercedes appear to be standing still.
Mercedes have plenty of work to do this season
Mercedes have reached a point where they do not fully comprehend what is going wrong with the car in high-speed corners.
On top of that, the data their simulations are producing doesn’t match up to what’s happening on track.
In reaction to Mercedes’s fundamental problems in faster corners, Hill said: “If this is true, Merc have a fundamental disconnect between their simulator models and the real world. It’s not the maths.”
The frustration will be growing at Mercedes given they’ve been dealing with these issues for years now.
While it’s unlikely to be the only reason Lewis Hamilton has decided to leave, this lack of progress won’t be helping.
It will be interesting to see if it affects their search for a replacement for the 39-year-old for next year.
The post ‘Not the maths’: Damon Hill concerned by ‘fundamental disconnect’ at Mercedes after 2024 F1 car struggles appeared first on F1 Oversteer.