MX23RW : Friday, March 29 02:15:33| >> :120:4892:4892:

Mercedes admits 'fundamental' cooling flaw

Mercedes admits 'fundamental' cooling flaw
© Reuters
A "fundamental" car design flaw cost Mercedes its chance of winning a ninth consecutive win of 2019 in Austria.

A "fundamental" car design flaw cost Mercedes its chance of winning a ninth consecutive win of 2019 in Austria.

That is the admission of the otherwise dominant team's trackside engineering boss Andrew Shovlin.

The team admitted after the race at the Red Bull Ring, which was won by Max Verstappen, that the 2019 Mercedes does not have big enough radiators.

Shovlin explained: "It all really goes down to the fundamental design of the car."

He said because engineers wanted the packaging of the 2019 car to be "very, very tight", it is not good enough at cooling the engines when ambient temperatures are high.

"Fundamentally the car doesn't have big enough radiators," said Shovlin.

And team boss Toto Wolff said the Mercedes drivers, including championship leader Lewis Hamilton, could have more issues at forthcoming races in the summer.

Shovlin continued: "When you get to that point you are really limited in your options."

Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas said they used the "lift and coast" method to cool the engine in Austria, which meant Red Bull and Ferrari were faster.

"So we couldn't really race properly, attack or defend. It felt a bit like a survival game in the end," said Shovlin.

He said designers are therefore "working on systems" to improve the situation for other hot races this year.

"We've got a lot of projects looking at this particular issue with the cooling, how we can improve that," said Shovlin.

ID:363934: cacheID:363934:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2655:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Toto Wolff pictured in April 2019
Read Next:
Overheating Mercedes 'not racing' in Austria - Wolff
>
rhs 2.0


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!