Mercedes is hoping to gain some ground on their rivals at the Spanish GP in two weeks time, as they are set to introduce a B-spec car running a longer wheelbase.
Along with the longer wheelbase, they will also be introducing a major aerodynamic upgrade package after lagging behind the top three in the opening four races of the season.
Ross Brawn identified the W01’s problem being it’s weight distribution, which isn’t correct thanks to the new spec tyres for 2010.
“When we got to test these tyres we realised we didn’t have the correct weight distribution and we went to the limit with what we could achieve with this car,” Autosport quote Brawn as saying. “It is not the wheelbase as such, it is the weight distribution that is not how we wanted it.
“The tyres changed quite a bit [this season], and we didn’t have the opportunity to test these tyres, and we didn’t have as good a guess of what was required as some of the other teams. So we will have a modification to the car at Barcelona which will give us a better range for the weight distribution that we can achieve.”
Brawn also hinted at a fully working F-duct being introduced in on the W01 for the Spanish GP after testing the system in China.
“What we had in China was a simple, passive system. It is not driver operated, so it is not as effective as the McLaren system,” he added.
“We are still working on a proper system that we will have at Barcelona or Istanbul. It is complicated to get to work properly, but our aerodynamicists are working on it.”
