German automobile magazine Auto Motor und Sport reports on Mercedes’ upgrades for the next rounds of the 2022 Formula 1 season and also looks ahead to the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg, predicting a difficult race for Scuderia Ferrari given the track characteristics of the Red Bull Ring.
“At Mercedes they aren not sure how Spielberg will be for them. It is going to be a good track to see how good the Silverstone upgrade really is. They told me that they [Mercedes] will bring small upgrades to every race now, all these upgrades will be floor related. Mercedes will bring these upgrades until Budapest. That’s the big test to see whether they have fixed the bouncing completely. If everything works there, Mercedes think they can win races on their own in the second half of the season. The upgrade in Spielberg will be small. Mercedes said that the big upgrade will be something that we won’t be able to see with our eyes. Let‘s see what it will be. Maybe something under the floor that nobody will be able to see.” Michael Schmidt wrote for AMuS after the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit.
“The proportion of straights in Spielberg is large, the corners have short radii, which should play into Red Bull’s cards. It will certainly be a tough race for Ferrari, where it will be damage limitation once again.” – Auto Motor und Sport added.
But Ferrari definitely needs to turn the page and look ahead after the events at Silverstone, despite enjoying the success of Carlos Sainz. At the Red Bull Ring it’s like going into the wolf’s lair, on a track that, at least on paper, seems designed specifically to have a nice comparison between the RB18, which is the favorite, and the F1-75.
The simulations of the Racing Department show that the F1-75 should still be competitive in Styria for the race that will mark the mid-season line, but this is no longer a surprise because the F1-75 has shown good adaptability on any track it has raced so far. However, Red Bull remain favourites ahead of the Austrian weekend.
The splendid structure owned by Dietrich Mateschitz is located at over 700 meters above sea level, so the engineers will have to deal with a more rarefied air that will have an impact on the cooling of the engine and the brakes and on the turbo which will have to compensate for the lower power of the other component.
The characteristics of the track should enhance the traction qualities of the F1-75, taking advantage of the turbo which was designed to run at a speed of use around 100,000 rpm, significantly lower than that allowed by the FIA regulation (125,000 rpm), while at the end of the straights the greater aerodynamic efficiency of the Red Bull will clrearly emerge, as the RB18 is always capable of reaching higher top speeds.
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Spielberg will have a hard impact on the 066/7 power unit which will be at maximum speed for 77% of the lap and, in particular, on the MGU-H that achieves energy recovery from the turbine, while the contribution of kinetic energy recovery during braking with the MGU-K is among the lowest of the season because the braking sections are not numerous and the brakes are used for less than 9” in total for each lap, equal to 16% of the time.
The Spielberg weekend should not be hot based on the latest weather forecast for the Austrian Grand Prix, so the reliability problems resulting from overheating seem to have been averted. From a technical point of view, Maranello seems ready for the challenge, even if the Austrian race is the least favorable for Ferrari from the next three races ahead of the summer break. Ferrari must arrive at Spielberg with the conviction of being able of challenging Red Bull for the world championship: with two drivers vying for the title, given that Carlos Sainz is only 11 points behind his teammate or with a more defined hierarchy so as not to aim only for the Constructors’ championship, but also for the Drivers’ one.
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