Mercedes reveal understeering and degradation as Sao Paulo woes

Mercedes have revealed their car was hindered by understeer and degradation as a result of their underperforming visit at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

In comparison, the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix was a low point for the Mercedes team compared to their first and only win of 2022, a year earlier. 

12 months prior, the two enjoyed two successive race wins in Sao Paulo, sprint race and the grand prix. Both of the races held in Sao Paulo, last year, were won by George Russell. 

However, this year, the two drivers slipped down the order as a result of high degradation on their Pirelli rubber, understeering and reliability problems for Russell. 

The downfall of Mercedes’ race weekend was explained in their team debrief. Head of Trackside Performance at Mercedes F1, Riccardo Musconi said:

“Well the long run pace we showed in free practice was quite reassuring, we didn’t think that we needed to change the car around so we went into qualifying and the results were around the third row. 

“In a way, we were not pleased with it, we thought the car deserved more.”

The duo qualified in fifth and sixth place ahead of the Sao Paulo GP for Lewis Hamilton and Russell respectively, the latter demoted two places for impeding in the pit exit. 

However, according to Musconi, ‘alarm bells’ rang during the sprint race as their two drivers suffered with high degradation. Musconi said: 

“The alarm bells went out during the sprint race, because after the first couple of laps, the degradation of our car was quite big, mainly coming from our rear axle. 

“At that stage, we worried about our performance on the Sunday.”

As a result of their concerns, Musconi reported the team had scheduled a simulator session back at their factory to find a way to reduce their problems. Not much could be done as the team was in Parc Ferme from Friday afternoon as a result of the sprint race weekend format. 

According to the Head of Trackside Performance, the team were able to improve on this concern. He said:

“We improved a bit, the degradation on the rear axle but at the same time we started suffering from understeer, so the car was struggling to turn through the corners hence the pace wasn’t there and we couldn’t compete at the front.”

In the end, Hamilton managed to halt the fall down the order and finished the race in eighth whereas his fellow teammate was forced to retire due to worrying pressures and temperatures inside his power unit.

Musconi confirmed the Brazilian race weekend was set to be the last race of the season for Russell’s engine and the Briton will utilise a different engine for the remaining two races: Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi. 

Formula 1 heads to Las Vegas, next weekend, for the penultimate round of the 2023 season with the cars blasting down the iconic strip. The action is set to get underway after dark at the famous Nevada city on Thursday, November 16 to November 18, 2023 (November 17-19 in the United Kingdom).

That’s all for the article; Mercedes reveal understeering and degradation as Sao Paulo woes!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Brazil GP: Verstappen secures 17th race win of 2023 as Alonso returns to podium
• Brazil GP: Verstappen snatches sprint victory after opening move into turn one
• Brazil GP: Norris pips both Red Bulls to sprint pole as Ocon collides with Alonso
• Scary scenes as grandstand roof rips off after Brazil GP storm
• Russell, Ocon, Gasly handed 2-place grid drop for impeding pit exit
• Brazil GP: Verstappen takes pole as bad weather ends qualifying early

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.