GIORGIO PIOLA
MERCEDES EXPLORES DIFFERENT REAR WINGS
The characteristics of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit require some degree of trade-off in aerodynamic configuration to get the best out of the car across the varying types of corners. There are flat-out sections that require minimal drag to maximise top speed, but there are enough traction zones where good rear-end downforce to build that acceleration is necessary.
Mercedes explored two different rear wings throughout practice in the quest to find that balance, and split George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to produce back-to-back testing. Russell had a lower-drag wing, with a shallower mainplane and V-shaped cutout in the top element, while Hamilton used the higher-downforce wing seen in Bahrain. Both eventually used the wing Russell had tried for the rest of the weekend, hoping that it could garner more top-end pace.
Mercedes hurt the most on the opening sector, where it was noticeably down on performance in the higher-speed corners compared to Lando Norris’s McLaren during the course of the race, but much of that was due to a recurrence of bouncing. “Our high-speed performance has been weak, and the car is bouncing in those corners,” said trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin. “We were losing so much time in sector one that we spent the rest of the lap clawing it back.”
JAKE BOXALL-LEGGE
ASTON MARTIN TELLS A NEW TAIL
Over 2023, Aston Martin experimented with a nifty little winglet grafted onto the rear crash structure, first spo
