Mercedes’ F1 engineers are devoting much of their attention this winter to solving the rear overeating issues that plagued the Brackley squad’s W15 car last season, as they prepare for 2025.
The team struggled with thermal degradation in warm conditions, a problem that undermined its car’s race pace on Sundays despite the outfit’s shift to an entirely new concept for 2024.
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin says that addressing this problem is a top priority for 2025, alongside tackling performance inconsistencies across different track types.
While the W15 excelled in cooler conditions by warming its tyres more easily than competitors, this strength became a liability in hotter temperatures, where excessive rear tyre overheating led to rapid degradation.
“Rear overheating, that's an area where I don't think we are as good as McLaren, Red Bull or Ferrari, and that's probably affected us most recently at tracks like Singapore,” Shovlin explained, quoted by Motorsport.com.
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The team is exploring two approaches to remedy the issue: reducing the amount of heat generated and improving the car’s ability to dissipate it.
“We're looking at what we can do to get temperature out of the rear tyres – and any work in that area is twofold: one is, can we put less temperature in, and the other one is, can we take more temperature out?” added Shovlin.
In addition to tyre overheating, the W15 also struggled on bumpy tracks, as its performance suffered when Mercedes failed to optimize the car’s ride height.
"It's very fair to say on those [bumpier] tracks, we do suffer more often,” Shovlin said.
“You can do analysis on how high people are running, and I don't think we're wildly different to anyone else, but ride is an area that we've been focusing on with these regulations."
©Mercedes
He added that the team has made progress in this area but noted that Formula 1’s relentless development cycle means there’s no room for complacency.
“The whole thing of development in Formula 1 is fixing problems, and can you fix them quicker than your competitors? That’s how you get to the front,” Shovlin explained.
Reflecting on the 2024 campaign, Shovlin admitted that Mercedes’ fluctuating form was partly due to its delayed upgrades, which often left the team a step behind or out of sync with its rivals.
“If you look at when we brought our updates compared to our main competitors, we were often bringing our big package a couple of races later,” commented Shovlin.
“But if we brought it earlier, it would be a smaller package. So the fact is, on average, over a season, we've not been quick enough when we deliver an update.
“We had a few races where we were competitive, the teams were trying to beat them, bring theirs, and they moved back ahead.”
The early part of the season was especially challenging for Mercedes as the team adapted to a new car concept, which featured a more conventional sidepod design and a pushrod rear suspension.
Progress was made throughout the year, but Shovlin acknowledged that the slow start hampered the team’s ability to consistently fight at the front.
“The car wasn't well balanced, wasn't working across a range of tracks. We got on top of those issues over the first seven or so races.
“And then I think we've just been in a normal development race over the remainder of the year,” he said.
As Mercedes aims to return to title contention in 2025, solving rear overheating and improving ride quality will be critical.
But Shovlin’s comments reflect a team determined to not just close the gap to its rivals but also set a new benchmark in performance.
Only time will tell if the W16 can propel the Silver Arrows back to dominance, but one thing is clear: the team isn’t backing down from its relentless pursuit of perfection.
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