"Performance was the key driver of the decision making" - Mercedes reveal impact of PC chip options

F1 teams such as Mercedes have switched their computer processors to AMD ones following the ruthless cost caps imposed by the FIA.

Aero changes ahead of 2022 have forced bigger teams like Mercedes to try and develop accurate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models.

Mercedes' head of aero development software, Simon Williams, claims the cost cap was the main reason F1 teams have opted for second-generation EPYC processors. He said:

"We had new regulations coming in and were refreshing our systems. Performance was the key driver of the decision making. We looked at AMD and the competitors. The CFD solve was the critical factor when running benchmarks. We needed to get this right, because we’re going to be on this hardware for three years."

"The other element was that we have the hardware on premises, and if it takes up the whole data centre then that wasn’t going to be an option. EPYC was the front runner in delivering the performance and space saving we needed."

Recent FIA rulings have changed the amount of time teams get to spend in the wind tunnel, with smaller teams such as Haas getting the most number of hours.

The aggressive cost caps imposed by the FIA have made teams reconsider their choice of computer chips, with the German F1 opting to go with AMD's second-generation EPYC processors.

---

Mercedes are fighting to fix 2022 car issues, says Toto Wolff

Mercedes are struggling to find an effective fix for their W13, which has been plagued with porpoising since the start of the season.

According to team principal Toto Wolff, the team is especially struggling to replicate the aerodynamic performance that their 2022 challenger is displaying in the wind tunnel.

Speaking about their aerodynamic woes after the Australian GP, Wolff said:

"This is a new way of analyzing aero data, it’s a new way of correlation between the simulations and the real world which needs to be understood. We have the tools and the people to understand that, but we haven’t found that yet."

"You can see that many other teams like Ferrari still have some bouncing, but they have done many other things right that we missed out on, or that we didn’t perform very well."

The Silver Arrows have enjoyed an excellent correlation between wind tunnel data and on-track performances, courtesy of their state-of-the-art facilities.

However, the restrictions placed around aerodynamic testing starting this season have put them in an unexpected and difficult place.

Only time will tell if Mercedes can resolve their problems soon and return to title contention.