Lewis Hamilton had a strong race before his car was disqualified. Photo: Getty Images/Anadolu
It's a bit of a red herring to say that Lewis Hamilton achieved his results because of bar wear. I think the Mercedes we saw in Austin is definitely a step up for him.
The important thing for me is that the changes to the underbody may have hurt George Russell, but they benefited Lewis. They need to look at that again because obviously it's the same thing we saw this year at Red Bull between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
If you build a car that fits to one rider, that's exactly what you'll get. .
I wouldn't say that bar wear alone had a big impact on the Mercedes' performance. Most importantly, these ground effect machines benefit from being close to the ground. But you can only launch them so close to the ground, because hitting them harms its performance.
The undercar board, made from very high-density wood material, has multiple metal protection plates installed in various specific positions. They are titanium because the FIA decided a few years ago that they needed sparks, especially for night racing. So there's a high-density wooden strip with titanium runners inserted in certain places — those are the sparks you see. But if the car goes too low and hits the ground in the middle of a fast turn, it's history: you're off track.
A bar under the floor of Hamilton's car at the Monaco Grand Prix earlier this season. Photo: Eric Alonso/Getty Images
The significance of the wear on the bars on Sunday is such that at the beginning of the race, when the car has more fuel, it will be stronger than at the end of the race.
In the last stretch we saw Mercedes in better shape — at that time it had there was no bar wear and it didn't ride on the road too much. Plate wear could occur quite early in the race.
The visual changes we saw on the car have little to do with the overall increase in performance. It's under the car that it all really works together. The visual changes we see are designed to accommodate changes that improve productivity. What they did was work the front corner of the floor much harder. This means that the airflow to the diffuser, which creates downforce under the car, is better defined and, more importantly, constant — which is what Lewis had in mind when he talked about his overall progress in Austin.
A confident driver can provide more than just a good car.
For any driver, confidence is everything. If you can give them confidence even with a lower downforce car, they will be able to drive it faster than a higher downforce car that doesn't give them confidence. These cars are so fast and you go into corners at such high speeds that you need to know that the feeling you get from the car will be consistent throughout the entire turn.
It's not good to feel like you can turn normally, but suddenly the back of the car comes at you. This only lowers your confidence. If there is a level at which you can drive a certain car, loss of confidence because the car is bad, you will lose 10 percent. But having a car that gives you a good feeling of confidence will benefit you in overall performance by two percent.
A driver will always be able to better utilize his talents in a car that gives him confidence in what he can get out of it A bit more. In a car that gives you faith, the driver will use all his talents to dig deeper.
This is the battle of Hamilton and Lando! 😍 pic.twitter.com/oz0sK578at
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 22, 2023
That’s exactly what we see with Lewis. He spent many years driving a very nice car and won racing championships in it. When the car inspires confidence, he has the talent to find something more.
But when the car doesn't inspire confidence, he doesn't get as close to the edge as some other young drivers might. He wants to achieve what he knows is possible. That's why Russell sometimes gives Lewis a hard time, mainly because the car doesn't inspire confidence on this track.
Russell is happy to accept it and try to make the best of it because of his experience with Williams in bad years. But Lewis knows that to succeed you need a good car.
Signs are good for improvement in 2024
Mercedes said this is a training phase for next year. My main argument is always that more than anything else, you need to prove to yourself that you know the direction you're going in is the right one. It's important to make these changes, even though they're not as big of a step as you could probably make with a brand new car.
We've had good and bad places in Mercedes in the past. season. So I think we just need to get one or two more races in before we get too caught up in life. But from what I've seen in Austin with these changes, it looks like a step in the direction you need to go. Let's wait a minute or two and see how consistent this step is.
However, it is a step in the direction that gives you the confidence to make those decisions for the future that you, as a team, have a long time ahead of winter
It's not just about showing the public that you can go faster. It's about showing yourself that you can go faster. This is important.
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