After overcoming some early-season troubles with their car, Mercedes is currently 3rd in the Constructors’ Championship, following Red Bull and Ferrari.
Ex-F1 racer Jolyon Palmer has observed how the first half of the 2022 season has exhibited a “quirk” as a result of expensive retirements for title contenders Red Bull and Ferrari and “bulletproof” Mercedes reliability.
Mercedes, the last eight Constructors’ World Championship champions, has battled with the new F1 regulations; the consequences of porpoising have been especially detrimental to their W13.
Nevertheless, despite these problems and their overall speed deficit, the Silver Arrows are still in third place overall, trailing only the two leaders and ahead of the middle pack.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have combined for seven podium results so far, taking advantage of some of their competitors’ DNFs due to technical issues.
How Mercedes has reassembled itself
Palmer mentioned how Mercedes has continually made the most of their problematic package in his most recent essay for Formula1.com.
“Incredibly, given the performance of their car, [Mercedes] have still managed to finish a race weekend on the podium more often than not so far,” he pointed out.
“[They have scored] seven podium finishes from 11 races, including finishing third in the last four Grands Prix, compared to 14 podiums for Red Bull and 11 for Ferrari, including victories.
“Pretty much all of this has been due to a disrupted season for the title contenders.
“Both Ferrari and Red Bull have had multiple DNFs across both cars, which has often meant that a typical battle for fifth becomes a podium battle, which Mercedes are winning out.”
Norris the only other driver on the podium
Palmer referred to the “seal” that Mercedes have created between Red Bull, Ferrari, and the rest of the F1 field in saying that they are always there to pick up the pieces.
“In fact, while Mercedes have been picking up podiums that their pace hasn’t necessarily deserved thanks to their bulletproof reliability, it has also highlighted another quirk of 2022,” continued Palmer.
“Only Lando Norris has secured a podium outside of the top six [in the standings] so far this year with his drive at Imola – Mercedes’ most absent race of the season.
“This time last year the podium spots were far more open, with Norris securing three podiums in the first 11 Grands Prix, as well as Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel netting one and even Esteban Ocon achieving a first win in Budapest.
“All this despite the leaders hitting trouble actually more often this year than last.
“The difference has been Mercedes’ metronomic winning of the battle for ‘best of the rest’, and effectively forming a seal between the lead battle and the plucky midfielders.”
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