Mercedes on 2022 struggles – 'The signs were there from very early on'
Mercedes say they knew their W13 was going to be a difficult car even before the first official test of 2022.
After almost unbroken success from 2014 to 2021, Mercedes fell back to earth with a bump in 2022, as F1 's new technical regulations saw the Silver Arrows struggle badly with porpoising and bouncing at the start of the season.
Having been accustomed to challenging for top honours, Mercedes were instead relegated to scrapping for points and occasional podium finishes, as Red Bull and Ferrari instead duelled for race wins.
As Mercedes' Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin explains, the team realised the W13 was going to be a handful even before it had turned a wheel in anger.
"The signs were there from the very, very early running, even on a filming day that we did at Silverstone," said Vowles.
"We then went for three days in Barcelona and the car was not that com Pet itive, but we were expecting a big update that we were going to...