2013 Belgian Grand Prix team preview: Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain celebrates with the Mercedes AMG F1 Team following the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix at Hungaroring on July 28, 2013 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Peter J Fox/Getty Images)

The first half of the 2013 season saw Mercedes struggle over their tyre issues. They have been consistently performing well, both in the race and qualifying. However, it was their inability to deal with the fast degrading tyres from Pirelli that has been playing spoilsport to their campaign.

They even went for the ‘secret test’ with Pirelli, in what was apparently a desperate attempt to solve the nagging problem, although that move dragged them into a big controversy, ultimately leading to a ban from the Young Driver Test programme at Silverstone.

But they came back with a bang and surprised everyone, with Lewis Hamilton grabbing both the pole and the win in the last race at Hungaroring.

The new tyres from Pirelli were used for the first time in the Hungarian GP and Mercedes seem to have benefited the most from it. Mercedes, for most parts of the season, were not able to efficiently preserve their tyres, especially on a high temperature track. The thermal degradation of the tyres had been their Achilles heel. As a result, not many were expecting them to perform well in Hungary, given the hot conditions at Hungaroring.

The temperature was in the mid 30s, and the track temperature on race day soared up to over 40. However, Mercedes and Hamilton stunned everyone with a brilliant performance throughout the weekend, managing to pull off a spectacular win after having secured pole in qualifying. What must have pleased the team even more is the fact that the win came in the most unfavourable conditions.

This has led people to believe that the new tyres have solved their problem, though its too early to arrive at a conclusion.

As far as the next race in Belgium is concerned, there’s no doubt that the team must be feeling confident. The summer break provided them the cool off time they needed to re-assess their strengths and to work on their weaknesses. Their 2013 car, the W04 has shown good pace, and both their drivers seem to be very happy with it.

Hamilton is in good form and he definitely will be aiming for the championship. He is 48 points behind leader Sebastian Vettel, but there’s a possibility of him finishing the season at the top, at least mathematically. With a morale boosting win in the last race, he must be feeling confident and we can expect him to put up a fight this weekend as well.

Hamilton has won at the Spa-Francorchamps once, in 2010, with his former team McLaren-Mercedes, and he will want to win again this Sunday. He has been consistent in the qualifying sessions, and if he manages to grab another pole this weekend, or at least a front grid start, he might just go on to win.

Nico Rosberg, on the other hand, did not have a good race in Hungary as the German ended a distant 19th without finishing the race. But to his credit, he has won twice this season and has had a decent run of form, so he is very well capable of putting up a challenge, if not win the race. If he can fend off some of the top contenders, then it may work in his team-mate’s favour.

With a good car at the paddock and a pair of brilliant drivers, Mercedes have become a force to reckon with – a huge improvement from what the team was until last season. They have already proved that they belong in the top league and have the ability to beat any other team on any given day.