Explaining Mercedes’ curious lack of straightline speed in F1 testing

Mercedes’ W14 featured fairly lowly in the speed traps throughout the three days of testing in Bahrain, with Red Bull’s RB19 and Ferrari’s SF-23 leading the way.

The German manufacturer placed at the very bottom of the collective top speed charts, according to Auto Motor und Sport’s data. 

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Seven-time world champion Hamilton admitted Mercedes “do have some pace to pick up in a straight line” as he summarised the team’s position heading into the new campaign. 

But speaking to Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz on the final day of pre-season testing, Mercedes technical director Mike Elliott appeared to offer an explanation for the team’s lowly ranking. 

Elliott said Mercedes’ apparent lack of straightline speed was not down to an engine or inherent drag issue, but instead related to the size of the rear wing attached to the W14. 

Mercedes opted to run a large double spoon rear wing for better correlation and data collection, while rivals Red Bull and Ferrari fixed medium load wings to their cars. 

“We were probably not wearing the wing we wear when we come racing,” Elliott revealed.  

Elliott confirmed Mercedes were purposely maintaining constant downforce levels throughout the test in order to get a greater handle on their new challenger. 

“We’ve developed the car’s [aerodynamic] efficiency quite a lot over the winter,” he explained. “Where we choose to run the race is about how we think is the best way to run the race. 

“Obviously in testing, it’s just about trying to understand and so we’ve not done any work moving up and down in terms of downforce level. 

“We’ve kept it constant and tried to get all the data we can from the car to understand as much as we can and the issues we may face, and just build from there.”