Allison acknowledges: 'Mercedes has correlation problems'

James Allison has confirmed that Mercedes are struggling with correlation problems. What the team sees in the factory is not the same as on the track. Mercedes' technical director does try to add some nuance to these problems.

Are there still correlation problems between the factory and the circuit? It's a question James Allison is asked during the Mercedes Debrief video: "In simple terms yes. There are always correlation issues in every year in every team and there always will be correlation issues between what you see in the factory and what you see on the track because the factory is a sort of reduced version of reality. It is not the same as driving a car on a real track on the actual asphalt of the actual circuit with all its infinite detail and complexity."

What goes wrong at Mercedes?

"You have simplified models back here in the factory and those simplified models are powerful for steering you one way or the other. But all of them have their shortcomings and all of them have their correlation issues. In large measure the models that we have, the simulation tools we have, are amazingly good at keeping us on the straight and narrow and guiding us towards more lap time. The devil's always in the detail."

"In the area of the high to low-speed balance, we could do with some improvement in that area of the models, because there we have some difference between what we are seeing on the track and what we are seeing back in virtual world. And those differences, if we can bring them closer together then it just allows us to be more accurate with the projections we make back here address the things that we believe are holding the car back."

How things stand at Mercedes

For Mercedes, the Australian Grand Prix was a weekend to quickly forget. In qualifying, Lewis Hamilton did not make it through to Q3, and in the race, the seven-time world champion retired with an engine problem. George Russell looked to maximise with a P7 but crashed after the much-discussed moment behind Fernando Alonso on the final lap of the race.

That zero score means Mercedes are currently fourth in the world championship. They are behind McLaren, a customer of Mercedes. In addition, they only narrowly keep their other customer, Aston Martin, behind. The difference is just one point in the Germans' favour after three race weekends.