Mercedes' rear wing the cause of its straight-line speed deficit

Mercedes claimed their aerodynamic setup was the cause of their straight-line speed deficit in the season opener in Bahrain. The German team attributed the loss in speed to their rear wing, with small updates expected to be seen in their cars in Jeddah.

Mercedes' chief technical officer James Allison claims the straight-line deficit seen in Bahrain is a result of aerodynamic choices rather than a power issue with the engine. He said:

“I think most of that is coming from the size of our rear wing. If you look at the cars coming down the straights one after the other and just look at the frontal area of the rear wings that each team has, you will see that we were running the biggest rear wing. Rear wings are a large factor in how much drag the car has, and the amount of drag a car has is a large factor in what the end-of-straight speed of the car will be.”

Lewis Hamilton took a surprise podium in the season opener in Bahrain despite his team being plagued with porpoising issues from Barcelona's pre-season testing session. Teammate George Russell found his way into P4 after both Red Bull cars retired due to reliability issues. Despite their impressive finishes, it is no secret now that the team is struggling when compared to the front-runners Red Bull and Ferrari.

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Mercedes CTO claims all engines are roughly equal in 2022

Despite rumors of the team's 2022 problems being engine-based, James Allison claims most teams have roughly the same performance figures in the current season. Ferrari seems to have developed the strongest car in 2022 despite having a 20-horsepower gap to Mercedes engines in 2021. Meanwhile, Red Bull have tremendous straight-line speed without major porpoising but were plagued with reliability issues in the season opener.

Allison spoke of the difference in engines between the teams, saying:

“Now, there will be other differences, of course – there may be small differences in the power of the engines. But I don’t think any of us - none of the teams - have got a handle on that at the moment, exactly what the pecking order is, and they are likely to be small if differences at all. The rear wings, on the other hand, you can see the differences there, and we did have the biggest wings.”

Meanwhile, analysts such as Anthony Davidson are claiming that Mercedes will benefit from the Jeddah Corniche Circuit's high-downforce nature this weekend. It remains to be seen, however, if the German team can find solutions to their problems and challenge the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.