© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
F1 journalist Tom Clarkson says “there is absolutely no doubt that Mercedes have taken a massive step”, and now they’re “going to be contenders every weekend”.
After a hard start to the 2024 season, the upgrades Mercedes has brought in the last three races seem to have put the team back on the right track.
F1 journalist Tom Clarkson believes the team has finally found “the silver bullet”.
“There is absolutely no doubt that Mercedes have taken a massive step in the last two races, isn’t it?” Clarkson said on the F1 Nation podcast.
“It’s since that new… There’s no one element – James Allison, technical director will tell you there’s no one element that makes the car better – but there’s no doubt that new front wing that George ran in Monaco, both drivers had it in Montreal has been the silver bullet.
“There’s no doubt that it’s all about the flexi front wing. Obviously staying within the regulations there’s a load that the front wing has to carry, and it’s not allowed to flex more than a certain amount with that load on it.
“As long as it passes that test it can do whatever it wants beyond that. Obviously Red Bull nailed that very early on in these regulations.
“I think another team nailed that from Austria onwards last year [McLaren] and Mercedes have nailed it now.
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“And so it’s been a bit of a eureka moment for them to get that front wing on the car.”
Ultimately, Clarkson believes Mercedes will now be a contender at the top of the field at every grand prix.
“After qualifying on Saturday when he [Russell] took that pole position, he said the performance has zigzagged so far this year as they’ve been trying to find solutions, but they’ve now found it and I think it’s really exciting going forward for Formula One.
“Just look, him and Max Verstappen set an identical lap time in qualifying. Formula One is really, really competitive now.
“And okay, who’s going to win Barcelona? Probably Red Bull are going to be a bit stronger there.
“But McLaren are so good now, Mercedes are coming on strong and it was just confirmation what we saw from Mercedes in Montreal that I think they are back.
“They’re not yet on the level on a high-speed track of Red Bull but they’re certainly back and going to be contenders every weekend,” the Briton concluded.
