Mercedes has elected to ditch the new floor the team introduced at this weekend’s Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix amid concerns over how the part worked in practice.
The aggressive development scheme that has propelled the German marque back to the sharp end has continued at Spa-Francorchamps with several declared parts.
However, Mercedes experienced an underwhelming outing in the opening two practice hours as Lewis Hamilton rued balance struggles en route to 10th place in FP2.
Despite the team making positive set-up alterations between the two sessions, Hamilton was staggered as he wound up 1.2 seconds behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.
And while both drivers were optimistic that improvements to dial in the new parts could be made overnight, Mercedes has decided to revert to the previous-spec floor.
Mercedes’ choice has come with rain having descended on the circuit to limit running in FP3, which would have caused complications had it retained the revised part.
However, the Brackley-based squad’s reversion does not mean that the upgrade has not worked and the team is set to examine the data in more depth over the break.
Speaking prior to the weekend’s action, Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin expressed optimism that its developments would work as expected.
“The main thing is the floor,” Shovlin said. “It’s another step of development that we’ve been able to bring here.
“It’s also nice to get some new parts on the car, because the reality of the cost cap is you’re constantly sort of patching them up, trying to repair them.
“Hopefully this will be a step forward.”
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