The 2021 Monaco Grand Prix saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen win the race and turn the tables of both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships, pushing Mercedes out of first place for the first time since 2014.
So, it begs the question: have Mercedes lost their way?
With Bottas qualifying in P3 and Hamilton in P7, Mercedes had a battle on their hands to claw their way through the field to a respectable points finish to maintain their position in the championships.
Unfortunately, both Mercedes drivers were unlucky.
Bottas was forced to retire from the race after a pit-stop during lap 30. As the pit-crew fitted new hard-compound tyres onto Bottas’ car, they failed to get the front right wheel off, losing Bottas an almost certain podium finish. Mercedes have later confirmed that the “wheel nut machined onto the axle and couldn’t be removed”.
This mechanical failure led to Hamilton being the only Mercedes driver left in the race to defend the Constructor’s Championship. But as all F1 fans know, the Circuit de Monaco is a unique and quirky circuit with few opportunities for overtaking, which ultimately played a part in Red Bulls’ victory.
Mercedes pre-race strategy was to sprint and make up ground by conserving tyres whilst other teams pitted; however, Hamilton pitted before any other driver, in the hopes he could undercut Alpha Tauri’s Gasly with fresh tyres. Unfortunately, being the first to switch to the hard tyres proved fruitless as everyone ultimately struggled to get those working quickly in race mode.
Verstappen and Perez are undoubtedly talented drivers, but before Monaco, there was already controversy around their cars limbo rear wing and flexing the legality of the rules.
The rear wings on an F1 car increase grip and nimbleness on corners by delivering downforce to the rear, whilst trying to reduce drag on a circuit’s straights. The FIA’s regulations state that the bodywork must be “rigidly secured to the entirely sprung part of the car."
Yet, Mercedes concerns about Red Bulls’ rear wings are raising speculation. According to Mercedes, Red Bull have limbo rear wings, meaning that they provide a straight-line advantage by flexing the wing backwards, by almost two centimetres, essentially generating their own drag reduction system and providing the cars with more speed. Red Bull's wing complied with the FIA pit-lane tests, but how it works on the track is potentially different.
However, whilst these limbo rear wings may provide extra advantages to the car performance, it’s unlikely that this was the case in Monaco due to the high number of corners and lack of high speed straights. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that the FIA have launched an investigation to address the issue.
Ferrari and McLaren are also two constructors excelling this season, and both had a podium finish in Monaco. The last time that Red Bull led a Ferrari and McLaren over the line was 2011 on the same circuit. It was great to see these teams up there again, with Verstappen, Sainz and Norris.
Monaco podiums 10 years apart: the same three teams in the absence of Mercedes. Are we returning to the days of the V10 era?
[Images from: Pickles Blog & Ruetir]
Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff, spoke out on the challenges the team faced in Monaco, saying “Monaco has never been a happy place for us” and how on the infamous street circuit, “you need a different car than for the average tracks.” So, could the design of the car be the reason for their underperformance?
Mercedes W12 is a longer car than others, and it runs flatter than most. This design limits the car’s total downforce, and with Monaco being a tight circuit, can make it quite difficult to manoeuvre. “It’s like a bus to turn”, says Hamilton.
With the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari excelling on street circuits, it could be said that Monaco was just unlucky for Mercedes and they've still built a car that excels for the majority of the season.
So is there really a changing of the guard?
Whilst teams like McLaren have greatly improved in recent years, providing Mercedes with a challenging season, it’s likely that Monaco was just a one-off race that saw Mercedes as unsuccessful.
The next race is another street circuit in Baku, so we will have to wait and see whether Red Bull defends its place at the top of the championship, or whether Mercedes comes back fighting.
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