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Toto Wolff has denied that Mercedes has shaved off 5 kilogrammes on their car with the Barcelona upgrades. The W08 is reported to be heavier than its competitors, which could potentially be costing the Silver Arrows a lot of time.
Niki Lauda, the non-executive chairman of the team spoke about the issue prior to the Spanish Grand Prix, saying it was one of the areas that they needed to work on. Mathematically, 5 kilogrammes is costing them around a tenth and a half of a second per lap.
In Spain, Mercedes managed to come off on top over Ferrari on pure pace, suggesting that they had successfully rid the car of its heavy problems. However, team boss Wolff has said they are working on a much smaller scale.
"We tried to improve aerodynamic efficiency and reduce weight, but we're not talking about five kilogrammes," boss Wolff told Spain's El Mundo Deportivo. "In Formula 1 it is difficult to make big steps like that -- they are all small. We are working more with grammes than kilogrammes."
The radical changes and the importance of every thousandth of a second have caused triple world champion Lewis Hamilton to run without a drinks bottle during the race. While this may save some weight, it could be quite dangerous for the Grands Prix of Singapore and Malaysia later in the year: "I don't carry drinks in my car to save weight," he revealed. "I was a little bit tired after that one."
Hamilton also announced that he has ditched his personal trainer in search of a new challenge in dictating his own fitness regime, which perhaps could be another reason why he sounded so out of breath over the radio to his engineer in Barcelona.
Fergal Walsh
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Replies (2)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
"Hamilton also announced that he has ditched his personal trainer in search of a new challenge in dictating his own fitness regime, which perhaps could be another reason why he sounded so out of breath over the radio to his engineer in Barcelona." Losing your PT doesnt worsen your fitness that quickly. I can definitely imagine that Hamilton is a tad less fit than e.g Vettel, but I think its probably more down to him fighting heat and the car rather than a lack of fitness. I do however think its a mistake to go without a PT, they specialize in creating workout and food regimes for you, and as an F1 driver, you mostly dont have time to be creative with such things.
Im sure we'd notice an even bigger difference had Mercedes managed to slice of 5kgs. In F1, losing 5kgs is a huge weight reduction.
Samouri
Posts: 25
You're 100% correct regarding the need for Lewis to stop his self appointed fitness program, and take on a personal trainer ASAP.