Valtteri Bottas expects to see a clear benefit from Mercedes’ new aerodynamic parts, including updated sidepod wings, in the Japanese Grand Prix.
“We have a pretty solid update package this weekend,” said Bottas.“Obviously getting to try it tomorrow, [see] how it works, but in theory it should give us more performance. How much actually that’s something we’ll find out.
“We have some rough numbers about it but it should be a decent step in terms if we’re talking about upgrade packages so far so we shall see.”
Mercedes haven’t taken pole position for any of the last five races – the longest such streak since the V6 hybrid turbo era began in 2014. Bottas is concerned the team hasn’t been competitive at tracks where they expected to do well.
“In the second half we’ve had tracks that we’ve thought on paper should be quite good for us and [Ferrari] have been able to beat us. So for sure with the new package we hope to gain some more performance and that way be stronger.
“But that’s how it is now, it’s super-competitive. We know they are going to be strong here again and I guess we will see. But for sure if they perform better than us here it means we need to work even harder if we want to be beating them.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2019 F1 season
- McLaren Racing reports reduced £71 million loss in 2019
- Kvyat: Hockenheim podium last year was “my biggest achievement” so far
- How the FIA’s new encrypted fuel flow meter targets Ferrari’s suspected ‘aliasing’ trick
- “He smashed my office door”: 23 must-see moments from ‘Drive to Survive’ season two
- ‘I should have done a better job. There’s things that I know I can do better’
RocketTankski
10th October 2019, 20:51
They’ve finally added cup holders
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
10th October 2019, 21:12
LOL! A slat-pack of them.
Bulgarian (@bulgarian)
10th October 2019, 21:44
There is definitely something “fishy” going on with Ferrari engines, so Mercedes must work as hard as possible to close the gap to “Jet engine” from Ferrari.
Picasso 1.9D FTW (@picasso-19d-ftw)
10th October 2019, 23:36
Man, that is are some fancy finnage! It seems counter-intuitive that something so complicated should make the air work more efficiently. I imagine myself as a bit of air squeezing through that lot and wondering where the hell I’m meant to go. But I guess that’s why I’m not an aerodynamicist. I’m sure it will work beautifully!
trocadero
11th October 2019, 11:17
How on earth does the driver get past that lot to climb into the car without breaking it?
Peter Pushrod
11th October 2019, 7:27
I read an article a ways back that talked about how Ferrari skunkworks was developing a new 3D printed honeycomb lattice steel alloy piston that was supposed to be as light as aluminum yet have the thermal and wear profile of steel. Maybe combine that with a new fuel and better engine mapping and that could explain their speed advantage.
John Ballantyne
11th October 2019, 11:32
The wing things are getting ridiculous again. A slight touch in turn one drops shards all over the track, which won’t affect all of the following cars but they will get a few of ’em!