Did the F1 cost cap prevent Mercedes from solving porpoising last year?
Mercedes’ 2022 campaign was dominated by the porpoising phenomenon - the bouncing sensation on the straights.
Mercedes ultimately endured their worst season since 2012, taking just one win across the entire 22-race season.
The eight-time constructors’ champions couldn’t get on top of the issue, meaning they were unable to run their car at an optimum level, costing themselves much-needed downforce and lap time.
Mercedes’ form slowly improved by the end of the year, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell now optimistic of a strong F1 2023.
Reflecting on the porpoising issue, Wolff admitted the lack of testing contributed more than the restrictions in finances due to the cost cap.
“Of course we could have injected more capital,” Wolff told AMuS. “But in the end you are limited by the few test days. The virtual world of the wind tunnel, CFD and simulations did not solve our problem. Our data simply did not show it.
“Bouncing cannot be simulated in the wind tunnel. This, of course, misleads the simulations. There, too, it was learning by doing. Every step we took on the track, using the weekends as a test, brought us millimetres closer to our understanding of the car.”
Wolff also explained how the cost cap has had a significant impact on Mercedes, who have been one of F1’s biggest spenders over the years.
“If you have to take out 100 million, that means restructuring,” Wolff added. What does that mean? Analysing processes according to their costs, setting priorities and adjusting them. Before it was: ‘We do this and that’. Now the decision is: ‘We do this or that.’
“We have gone through a very difficult time to adapt. Our finance department has grown from 16 to 45 staff to reflect the processes.
“Example: When a piece of aluminium tube becomes a wheel carrier, we don’t just need to know what the tube costs. We need to understand the entire process behind it. From that you work out priorities – between the engineers and the accountants. That will give us an advantage in the medium term. Everybody has to go through that. Even the teams that are under the budget cap today.”
