Lewis Hamilton has been denied a 2022 title fight against Max Verstappen due to one Mercedes mistake. The Silver Arrows have struggled to find pace compared to Red Bull and Ferrari this season.
The German manufacturer have endured an inconsistent package with performance at some races and then none at others. Mercedes technical director Mike Elliott has claimed the team “made a mistake” with the car’s development which led to this problem.
He revealed the team has known about the issue “for a while” but admitted it could not be fixed until the end of the season. Speaking to the Beyond the Grid podcast, he said: “You look at how we developed the car, and I can point to one moment in time last year where we did something where I think we made a mistake.
“What you’re seeing in terms of performance and the way it swings from race to race as a consequence of that, and that’s a mistake we’ve known about for a while, and something we’ve been correcting and that’s why our performance has gradually got better. But it’s not something we can fully correct for a little while yet, and we will do over the winter.”
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Elliott didn’t reveal exactly what the mistake was but it is understood to be an issue with the car’s floor. Mercedes are yet to reveal whether they will stick with their current 2022 design or start afresh with a new concept.
George Russell appeared to suggest the team would be looking at moving away from their current set-up in a bid to get back to the front. He explained: “We have a philosophy that we’re going to be trying to adopt in our development and I’m very confident that is the correct one, but equally, it doesn’t mean that we can necessarily achieve it.
“We have a target, and that is a massive positive in itself. We know what we’re chasing, we have a clear target we’re trying to chase now.”
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Elliott has previously claimed the team would admit they may have got their designs wrong and hinted they could look at other designs. Andrew Shovlin has also said the team were “exploring different concepts” and suggested they may look at Red Bull’s design.
The team have dominated this season with Max Verstappen winning 11 races and Sergio Perez another two. Shovlin commented: “You’d always say that the fastest car is the one that’s got the best concept, so, you know, today that’s going to be Red Bull.
“Where that goes into next year it’s difficult to say. Certainly we, as a team, have not fixed what our car is going to look like. We’re still exploring different concepts. That process will go on for some time, but we’re just looking for what will give us the best development opportunity in those new regulations going forward.”
Keyword: Mercedes spot crucial 'mistake' that has denied Lewis Hamilton fight vs Max Verstappen