This weekend saw the second Formula One race of the season in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. What a difference a few months makes with a few regulation changes as the dominant force of the last 8 years Mercedes is a non contender. McLaren who were challenging last season are fighting with Williams to avoid the last spot and wooden spoon. This is entertaining though and it will become more intense and fun when Mercedes fix their car and engine issues.
I think everyone is asking how a team can become so bad overnight if they knew the regulations and have been working on the car since last year. This is not an easy answer as the teams haven't suddenly become, bad but are working through some gremlins.
Mercedes is literally 1.2 seconds slower than Ferrari and Red Bull per lap as the new regulations have taken away what made them so strong before. The downforce which was superior on their W12 is now out of balance. Throw in the new fuel which has been challenging for most teams including Red Bull and Alpha Tauri.
Mercedes have been the best team for 8 seasons with the technology they have produced as results tell us that. The lack of testing having less time in the wind tunnel could be playing a major factor now as the winners get less hours due to their success calculated on a sliding scale.
Mercedes are one team of many that is having what they call "porpoising" and can be best described when you place two magnets together repelling themselves the closer they become. This is the same when the car and the ground force suction is pulling the car to the track surface. This creates a up and down action at high speed making it difficult for the car to perform. The teams are looking for a gliding action without any ups and downs as this is only costing them lap time.
Mercedes are not the most successful team over the last decade due to luck and have enough brains and knowledge to fix this issue quickly. They said before the weekend give them a couple of more races and somehow believe it will be fixed by the time the teams hit Melbourne in 2 weeks time.
What was noticeable was the "porpoising" was less when the car had a heavier fuel load so it has to do something with balance. The data the teams collect will tell them what to look for and their simulator will be feeding vital information. Then again they will have limited time available to them compared to other teams as they won the Championship last year.
The two races thus far have been more about damage limitation regarding the Constructors Championship and have done better than expected. There are 23 races this season with 21 still remaining and plenty of time to turn things around.