All-new car for Mercedes: 'Will be a B-spec'

Mercedes has not made a good start to the 2022 Formula 1 season and also did not come up with any major updates yet. Julien Simon-Chautemps thinks this is because of the budget cap and expects the Germans to come up with a B-spec sooner.

Budget cap in F1

For Formula 1 teams, it has become much harder to come up with updates since 2021. Whereas top teams could throw money around in the past to make the car better, they now have to abide by a budget cap. So each step in the process must be carefully considered before rushing to put updates on the car.

Simon-Chautemps worked for years as an engineer for Sauber, Renault and Lotus in F1 and sees that big teams struggle with these limitations. To Motorlat.com he states that he is surprised that Mercedes has not yet brought updates. ''It's clear that they need to understand what the problems are first,'' says the Frenchman.

New car for Mercedes

''There is also the fact that the budget cap is a big problem, especially for the big teams (like Mercedes). In the past they would have brought two, three or four different front wings and floors, but they can't do that anymore,'' says the former engineer. He therefore thinks that Mercedes will soon come to the circuit with a completely new car in one go.

''They'll probably wait until they have a whole package, that's my expectation. Instead of one new floor, they will bring a B-spec car. I think that will be the case very soon,'' concludes the former race engineer of Kimi Raikkonen.