James Allison breaks down how Mercedes can cure W15’s 'underlying balance' issue

After implementing these updates to the car, the engineer highlighted his hopes to fix the balance issue with the lackluster W15.

We’ve got upgrade packages coming to the car but also components that we hope will rectify the underlying balance that is causing us difficulty. James Allison said, as reported by motorsport.com.

The Briton explained that despite the situation being ‘painful’ for Mercedes, the team will perform better after implementing these updates in the future. Allison hopes for Brackley to soon return to the front foot and progress throughout the 2024 season. The 56-year-old explained that the glory days for the German manufacturer couldn’t come soon enough.

Much as it’s painful to talk in this way after a weekend like this, I just have to remember that there’ll be races in the future when we’ve executed those things, when we’re back more on the front foot and when we’re progressing, where the pleasure of talking about it will be massive, and that day can’t come soon enough. James Allison explained.

Mercedes took ‘great learnings’ after experimenting with the W15 in China

The Chinese weekend was off to a great start for Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton finishing P2 in the sprint race. However, towards qualifying for the main session, Mercedes brought major changes to both the chassis. The experiments on the chassis failed and caused catastrophic results for Hamilton. The 39-year-old was eliminated from Q1 and only managed a mediocre P9 finish. Hence, James Allison revealed that Mercedes learned a lot during the weekend.

We definitely learnt during this weekend that if you're going to be ambitious, be ambitious in the sprint race and then tune it down for the main race rather than the opposite way around. James Allison noted.

The engineer hoped to land the W15 in a better place during the upcoming Miami GP. The team has high hopes for the coming updates and thus, expects smooth sailing during the upcoming American weekend. Allison asserted that even the smallest pace gain would pay huge dividends to Mercedes’ performance over the race weekend.

Hopefully we’ll land a car in a better place, that the upgrades that we’re going to bring to Miami serve us well in a grid that in qualifying at least is really close. Around the part of the battle we’re fighting, a few hundredths can make a difference sometimes. So, looking forward to seeing how that all plays out.

James Allison concluded.

Mercedes needs to desperately rediscover their form for the 2024 season to score better results. As things are, Brackley would lose their shot at championship contention early on. The team has hopes to help Lewis Hamilton end his final season with the constructor on a high. Hence, the coming updates are extremely crucial for the team.