© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
Mercedes’ Technical Director James Allison says the team was “in a world of pain this time last year”, but now they have “a much better-born car than the year before”.
After 2024 pre-season testing, James Allison gave his verdict on the new Mercedes W15.
“Very productive,” the Briton said when asked how testing went for the team.
“We had a very full test programme. We’re wanting to work through a bunch of setup changes that are really not possible once the season started.
“And so to get those items done now, to give us some direction for the hardware that we take into the opening series of races. It’s been a good test from that point of view.”
As for the car itself, Allison says Mercedes is now in a much better place than it was last year.
“We were in a world of pain this time last year, and while we’re certainly not the leading car right now, we at least have an honest well-behaved thing that can put in decent long-run pace.
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“And I think we’ve got a bit more work to do on the single laps, but it’s definitely a much better-born car than the year before.”
The Briton specifically emphasized how the data between the simulations and the track now finally correlates.
“One of the nice things about the car, and quite a sharp contrast to the year before, [is] where we can change a thing and the car responds.
“And it responds pretty much like the sims say it should respond, and that gives us a lot of confidence that you can then make changes in the factory, in the virtual world, bring them here and expect them to work.
“So yeah, that’s an encouraging thing for us,” Allison concluded.
