The underbody used by Mercedes at the Belgian Grand Prix is ​​causing concern for the team.

Mercedes introduced a new floor specification at the Belgian Grand Prix, which was also used at Zandvoort, but the Silver Arrows admitted there are some concerns about performance at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Team boss Toto Wolff said his team’s performance at Zandvoort was “puzzling”, but now the Silver Arrows believe they may have an answer to their poor performance in the first race after the summer break.

The German manufacturer removed its latest floor at the Belgian Grand Prix. The team found that the new floor led to confusing data during Friday practice. Mercedes then won at Spa – initially through George Russell until the Briton was disqualified. Lewis Hamilton was the eventual winner.

Although the team won without the new surface, they were convinced of the potential of the new surface and used it for the entire weekend in Zandvoort.

However, this led to a disappointing result – both drivers finished well behind race winner Lando Norris – raising questions about the latest floor design.

The team’s on-track data and analysis show that the new surface generates more downforce than the previous surface, but technical director James Allison suggested that the new surface could upset the balance of the car and cost lap time.

New soil has potential, but side effects

Alisson says the team is working hard to find out how the new floor will affect the car’s performance, the Mercedes technical director made the comments in Mercedes’ post-race debriefing video.

When asked how the ground performed at the Dutch Grand Prix, Alisson replied:

“The simple answer is: we don’t know exactly.”

“You can do some simple measurements and say that the downforce it was supposed to deliver was apparently there. So on one level you could assume it was working as expected.

“But the speed of the cars this year is largely down to how well they handle. So it’s not just about whether your aerodynamic package gives you downforce, but whether it gives you the balanced car you need in the corners. Does it give you the balanced car you need from high to low speed?

“We definitely know that we didn’t have a well-balanced car this weekend. That’s why we lost most of our speed. Whether that was due to the new floor, the new aero package or not, we have to keep an open mind and that’s something we’ll have to revisit in future races.”

“At the moment we know it measured downforce, but we are not sure if it delivers a good balance. We will have to look at that more closely over the course of the year.”

Alisson believes the car was on a “knife edge”, describing the balance of the car with the new underbody. He further emphasised his point by saying that the W15 “had too much tendency to break away at the rear”.

Mercedes has to make an important decision this weekend in Monza: whether to return to the old track or stay with the new one.

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