The answers Mercedes needs from its low-drag wing

Intrigue around Mercedes' updates beyond the Australian Grand Prix will focus on whether it can answer Lewis Hamilton’s demands for more grip and more power. Solving the W13's weaknesses appears to be multifaceted, including the obvious porpoising problem, with a low-drag wing in the pipeline after Albert Park

Jonathan Noble Apr 7, 2022, 7:53 AM

Upd: Apr 9, 2022, 2:14 AM

As the booming fireworks that celebrated Max Verstappen's victory in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix a fortnight ago drowned out conversations in the Jeddah paddock, Lewis Hamilton offered a succinct explanation for where Mercedes was lacking right now.

"We need more grip and we need more power," he said.

It has been clear for a while that Mercedes' problems are not just simply down to its car not being able to run at the ideal ride-height because of bouncing.

Share Or Save This Story

Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.

Jonathan has won multiple awards for journalism - in 1991 he was the winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Sir William Lyons’ Award for young journalists, in 2010 he was awarded the Outstanding Individual accolade for consumer journalism in the Haymarket wards, in 2011 he won Haymarket’s Scoop of the Year, and in 2018 he was awarded a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for his contribution to F1 journalism.