MERCEDES: BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD WITH “TROUBLED” FLOOR UPDATE?

Mercedes will not use the floor update introduced at Spa during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend.

Mercedes entered the summer break in 2024 with three wins in four races. However, after the summer break, Mercedes drivers failed to make it to the podium in the two races that followed. When asked to comment on the team’s recent dip in form, Hamilton responded: “There are a lot of question marks.”
“We’re trying to understand because it could be caused by many things: it could be track-related, it could be due to updates…”
“My gut tells me it could be the update, but it’s hard to tell the difference between the two.”
“But we will try this weekend, and we’ll see if we can identify the problem by rolling back some of the updates.”
“There’s just a lot of work being done to analyze because this gives the team a better direction, not just for this car but also for development next year.”

According to Autosport/Motorsport.com, Mercedes’ decision to “roll back” means they won’t use the Spa floor in Baku. This will give a clearer picture of how the car performs without the updated diffuser, halo, beam wing, and front wing.

Russell had this to say about the decision: “The update didn’t bring a significant performance boost.”
“Sometimes, you have to look at things objectively: we knew the upgrade wouldn’t change everything. It was just another step along the path we’re following.”
“We know what this floor offers. We know exactly where the setup window should be, and sometimes, with a new update, it takes a few races to learn and understand.”