The question marks over Mercedes' drastic changes

Mercedes struggled - by its standards - at 2019's first test and then turned up in the second week with a dramatically different car. There was no chance it could have turned around that upgrade in a weekend, so this strategy was obviously planned. But why, and what could it mean for the season?

Jake Boxall-Legge Giorgio Piola Mar 1, 2019, 11:36 AM

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Change is a constant of Formula 1. Across the two pre-season tests, there have been plenty of updates and new additions to dissect on the surgeon's table, as the trackside engineers carefully analyse their designs' benefits, determine whether they operate as they should or whether more work is needed.

And in the past, teams with less resource have had to roll out the previous year's car for one last time, making the requisite modifications and using it as a test mule before the actual car hits the road.

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Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.