How did Mercedes manage to be 3rd in F1 constructors' standings despite continued issues?

Mercedes' performance in the first four races of the 2022 season has not been on par with what fans have come to expect. Last year, the team won the constructors' championship, with many insisting that Lewis Hamilton deserved to win the drivers' championship as well.

This year, they went from winning the constructors' championship in 2021 to falling behind McLaren's pace. The Silver Arrows have been transparent about their issues. Yet they do not yet know how to fix them. They have acknowledged not having the pace to reach the Ferraris and Red Bulls ahead on the grid.

Mercedes drivers had mixed results at the Imola GP. While Lewis Hamilton finished P13 in the race with no points, George Russell finished P4 with 12 points.

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So how is Mercedes third in the Constructors' Championship standings right behind Red Bull?

Porpoising

Ferrari reportedly faced more porpoising at the Australian Grand Prix than any other team. The Italian outfit took up to 1.4G of porpoising throughout the race. Haas followed the Scuderia, with Mercedes third on the list.

Mercedes have struggled heavily on this front. Following the race in Imola, Russell complained of chest pains caused by the bouncing effect, saying "it really takes your breath away."

Most of the units on the grid are struggling to optimize their cars within the new 2022 guidelines. It has been a bumpy road for the Silver Arrows so far this season, and that's not just down to porpoising.

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Well, if Ferrari had more porpoising than Mercedes, how are they so far ahead?

The difference here is that the Brackley-based squad is dealing with porpoising at slower speeds than Ferrari. The Scuderia face it mostly on the straights but they can reach higher speeds before this becomes an issue. This also means that the Silver Arrows are in constant danger of carrying the porpoising into the turns, whereas Ferrari do not have that issue.

Optimizing the car

When asked in an interview about Mercedes' attempts to solve porpoising, George Russell said, "that would cure I would say 99% of our issues." The key here is that porpoising is not the only issue and there is no simple answer. The team has tested several setups with Russell and Hamilton's cars during practice and qualifying sessions this season.

They need a way to optimize the car as much as possible. The car is also slightly overweight, but they decided to add sensors to collect more data. These sensors add to the weight issue, but there does not seem to be another choice at this time.

Though there have only been four races this year, this is a season in which Lewis Hamilton disastrously didn't make it out of Q1 in Saudi Arabia, and only managed to collect one point in that race. He also did not score any points in Imola. Needless to say, Brackley may be desperate for answers.

F1 Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

So with Mercedes' performance challenges, how have they ranked third in the Constructors Championship?

The season has been full of surprises, starting with Ferrari dominating the pack with a wide gap behind them. Even more surprisingly, the Imola GP then slipped out of Ferrari's hands with an early collision that took Carlos Sainz Jr. out and a mistake by Charles Leclerc that took him back to 6th position.

Although the Silver Arrows have not yet unlocked the potential of their 2022 car and power unit, they had the luck of staying in the fight. During the races, however, they simply do not have the pace to keep up with the Ferraris and Red Bulls on track. Nevertheless, they have continuously managed to finish each race.

Mercedes have made it clear from pre-season testing that they are aware of their issues. They know that they are not in the title fight until they can squeeze out some of the potential in this year's car.

F1 Grand Prix of Australia - Qualifying (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

As such, they have focused on gathering data, managing tires, and searching for solutions. Luckily for them, Red Bull have had some phantom issues come up that have cost them some momentum.

Red Bull suffered 3 DNFs from their two drivers in the first three races of the season. With Max Verstappen winning in Saudi Arabia and Imola, and Sergio Perez taking P2 in Australia, Red Bull is up to 2nd place in the constructors' standings. They are now 36 points ahead of Mercedes and 11 points behind Ferrari.

Mercedes being realistic about their capabilities at this time and bad luck in the Red Bull garage has given them third place in the standings without having the pace.