"There are many areas where it can improve" - Mercedes working on engine tweaks to gain 'extra performance'

Mercedes are working on making changes to their engine in hopes of gaining extra performance at the forthcoming 2022 F1 Miami GP, according to trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin.

Despite a Power Unit (PU) freeze being put in place between 2022 and 2025 by F1, the Silver Arrows are still hopeful of finding some gains from it. In an interview carried by motorsport.com's Spanish affiliate, the Briton said:

“Of course we are trying to find something. However, our power units are already homologated and the only thing we are allowed to do at the moment is to work on improving reliability. But there is another area we can work on that is not forbidden. I’m talking about engine control modes, which we can switch as we like.”

Shovlin reiterated that Mercedes' attempts to extract more from their PU are separate from the team's ongoing efforts to improve their already troublesome chassis. The Mercedes man elaborated by saying:

“We understand our new car is not perfect, but the good news is if your car is not as fast as you would like there are many areas where it can improve. So our staff are now looking closely at the possibilities for tweaks that can give us extra performance [in the engine]. But yes, in terms of chassis [development], we don’t want to stop either.”

Toto Wolff's side has had a slow start to the campaign and is yet to be at the same level as rivals Ferrari and Red Bull at the front of the grid.

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"Time is getting critical now" - Mercedes need to move forward in next two races, says Andrew Shovlin

Mercedes will need to see immediate improvements in the next two races if they are to remain in the fight with Red Bull and Ferrari, according to Andrew Shovlin.

In an interview carried by racingnews365.com after the 2022 F1 Imola GP, the Briton said:

“We need to move forward in the next two races if we are to keep the leaders within any kind of reach this year. We know where we are on performance right now and we know where we need to get to. However, there are a couple of major issues with the car that if we can fix, we can find a lot of that gap quite quickly, but time is getting critical now.”

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have had to deal with a lack of grip and power as well as drastic porpoising and the chest and back pains that go with it in the opening four rounds of 2022.

Toto Wolff was even heard apologizing to Lewis Hamilton after the race in Imola, calling the Mercedes W13 'undrivable'.