"This car is very difficult to correlate" - Mercedes boss admits team are fighting to fix 2022 F1 car issues

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed that the team is struggling to replicate in the real world the aerodynamic performance that their 2022 challenger is displaying in the wind tunnel.

While admitting that the correlation between wind tunnel data and on-track performance was taking longer than expected, Wolff felt that they would "get it nailed on" sooner rather than later. Speaking to speedcafe following the Australian GP, he 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.”

Mercedes have long enjoyed an excellent correlation between wind tunnel data and on-track performances, courtesy of their state-of-the-art facilities. The restrictions placed around aerodynamic testing starting this season, however, have put them in an unexpected and difficult place.

Wind tunnel testing is now capped at speeds of 160 miles per hour. This is despite some teams, such as Mercedes, having the capability to simulate speeds of over 300 miles an hour.

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Aero testing restrictions adding to Mercedes’ misery

Porpoising seems to be the root cause of most of Mercedes’ problems. The violent bouncing is robbing away driver confidence, especially in corner entry, costing the team vital performance. Since the Bahrain pre-season testing, they have trialed various solutions to fix the issues, with varying levels of success.

The reason seems to be a lack of correlation between wind tunnel data and real-world behavior. The W13 seems to be porpoising at much higher speeds than can be simulated in the wind tunnel. As the team is unable to simulate such speeds during aerodynamic testing, they are essentially having to come up with new ways to come up with solutions.

Explaining their difficulty solving the W13’s issues, Wolff said:

“This car is very difficult to correlate because you can only move the car with a certain frequency in the wind tunnel, where it’s just limited, and on track it does something completely different.”

A close correlation between on-track performance and wind tunnel simulations is crucial in helping teams develop their cars, more so this season given the tight budgetary restrictions.

Without a good correlation, teams will be wasting away limited resources that can otherwise be spent on different areas of the car.