[Saba Sports News] After the pre-season test in Barcelona, George Russell gave a positive assessment of the initial performance of the Mercedes W17, directly addressing a long-standing issue that has troubled the team for years: the porpoising phenomenon is no longer present. During the previous ground-effect regulations cycle, Mercedes was one of the teams most severely affected by the bouncing of the car. The car frequently experienced vertical vibrations on high-speed straights, which not only impacted performance but also took a toll on the drivers’ bodies, with sparks flying becoming a common sight.
Although teams later mitigated the porpoising issue through adjustments to setup and structure, the problem never completely disappeared on high-speed tracks. With the implementation of the new regulations, the sources of downforce have been re-evaluated, relying more on the aerodynamic design of the upper body, thereby fundamentally reducing the conditions that lead to bouncing.
During the three days of official testing allowed in Barcelona, the Mercedes cars completed over 500 laps, and both Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli repeatedly appeared at the top of the unofficial timing charts. Russell was quite humble about this, stating that the core goal of the test was merely to assess the car’s reliability, not speed, and he found the results satisfactory.
In my view, prior to the next test in Bahrain, all teams will undergo significant changes, and upgrades are undoubtedly forthcoming, so it’s still too early to determine who is actually the fastest.