The surprise strugglers of 2022 looked to have turned the corner as George Russell enjoyed a blistering practice session on the Friday of the Miami Grand Prix, showing out-and-out pace for the first time all season.
Come qualifying and the race, whatever tweaks were made once more reduced it to being a pig of a car to drive.
For all the engineer masterminds assembled back in Brackley, the team remain at a loss to explain how they had gone from frontrunners to alsorans in the space of just 24 hours.
The porpoising may not have been as bad as at the previous four races, but that was more down to the nuances of this new track than Mercedes’ boffins having found any sort of solution.
The reality is that Mercedes still only have the third quickest car on the grid and its pace is some way off that of Ferrari and Red Bull, whose driver, Max Verstappen, took the chequered flag.
And five races into 2022, they are no closer to understanding their problems.
This story is from the May 09, 2022 edition of Evening Standard.
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This story is from the May 09, 2022 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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