Toto Wolff has explained why he believes the effects of porpoising are proving worse for Mercedes than pace-setters Ferrari. Both teams' cars were seen bouncing severely during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. However, while Charles Leclerc was able to steer his F1-75 to pole position, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were roughly one second per lap slower. "You have a point there," Wolff told media, including RacingNews365.com , when reminded of how Ferrari were porpoising despite remaining the fastest car on the circuit. But, while both Ferrari and Mercedes are porpoising down the straights, it is only the Silver Arrows seeing the effects continue through high-speed corners, according to Wolff, costing both Hamilton and Russell plenty of lap time.
Wolff: Our bouncing is worse
Wolff has explained that this is the key difference in why Mercedes are being impacted more by the issue than the Scuderia. "Our bouncing is worse in the sense that we are carrying it into the corners, into the high-speed [corners]," the Team Principal said. "You can see where we lose performance. When you look at the overlay, in sector one we are very competitive [and] in sector two we are competitive. "In sector three, through Turns 9, 10 and 12, we're losing all our margin. It's almost like a second through a couple of corners."
Mercedes have more to work on than porpoising alone, warns Wolff
But Mercedes' problems do not end at porpoising, says Wolff, who spoke of "hidden gremlins" following Saturday's qualifying session. "Does curing the bouncing mean the miraculous unlocking of a second within the car? No, for sure not," he made clear. "There are many little improvements that we can make, on weight and a few others [things] we can optimise."
Mercedes remain optimistic, despite constant gap
After three races of the 2022 season, Mercedes remain well behind Red Bull and Ferrari and have so far been unable to fight for race wins, but Wolff remains optimistic. "You know how it is in Formula 1, you just need to chip away the small gains whilst understanding the car," added Wolff. "I'm optimistic that eventually we're going to get there, whether that is in two races or five, or by the end of the season, I don't know."
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