The 2025 Formula 1 season has been a rollercoaster for Mercedes, continuing a pattern of inconsistency that has been visible since 2022. The W16 made a promising start to the year, highlighted by George Russell’s victory in Canada, but a combination of irregular performances, less effective technical updates, and possibly the FIA’s directive on flexible front wings has contributed to the team losing its competitive edge.
Bradley Lord, a representative of the Mercedes team, explained this performance fluctuation in an interview with RacingNews365: “In the first part of the season, we were seeing consistent performances. The drivers felt comfortable in the car, and the gap to the fastest cars was limited. From Melbourne to Miami, we were regularly in contention for podium finishes.
“From the Imola round onwards, however, our performances became more inconsistent. We did have a high point in Canada, with George’s win and Kimi’s first podium of the season, but overall we have drifted away from the podium zone, fighting for top-five or top-six positions instead.”
The new suspension failed to deliver
Among the technical updates introduced this season, the most significant was the new suspension system. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a major headache for the engineers, who were unable to make it work effectively. In the end, the update was abandoned, and the team reverted to the previous suspension design.
Implementing a major technical update is never straightforward, and working in such a critical area of the car leaves little room for error. The new suspension had to integrate with the existing gearbox and aerodynamic package, and redesigning everything from scratch would have been too time-consuming and costly. The team opted for a compromise solution, which ultimately did not yield the expected performance gains.
“Drivers tell us that they struggle to trust the car. There is instability when entering corners, and they cannot fully commit, which costs both confidence and performance. We are investigating which of the new components caused this behavior, because we did not have this problem at the start of the year,” Lord explained.
Did the front wing directive impact Mercedes?
Another factor that may have contributed to Mercedes’ difficulties this season is the FIA’s technical directive regarding front wings. The reduction in wing flexibility has affected all teams, but it appears to have had a particularly significant impact on Mercedes, which had used wing flex as a performance advantage since its introduction last year.
“All teams had to make modifications to their cars, affecting drivability. This could be a contributing factor. There isn’t a single cause, but rather a combination of elements. It’s something we need to consider, even though we experienced the peak of our season during the same period,” Lord added.
It is important to note that even a minor reduction in front wing flexibility can alter the car’s balance in corners. Therefore, a seemingly small change can have a measurable impact on overall performance.
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