Analysing Mercedes EQ Formula E team’s performance in the first 7 rounds of Season 7 of the Formula E FIA World Championship, in 2021 and analysing the key areas where they have done well or have lost to others.
Mercedes – a car and engine manufacturer team who have proudly been part of several motor racing series and have created history in several of them, decided to enter the electric racing series – Formula E as a works team in the 2019/20 season. After what proved to be a fairly good first season for them, they were seen to be the threat for the other teams in Formula E, because after all they have the best engineering team and have developed a very energy – efficient powertrain which also provides a good amount of torque and speed. What they needed were two drivers who could translate that into perfection driving and that is why they got Vandoorne, a former Formula 1 driver, onboard alongside Nyck De Vries. Both of the drivers know what they are doing and have been acquainted to the car well.
And a successful campaign they have had, helped largely by the strategies that they follow and damaged a bit by bad luck, and issues with two main issues being with their software in Round 2 and with Nyck’s gearbox in Round 7. It can be said that well, Round 5 gave results, that from the perspective of teams and fans who were on the losing end, should not be considered and well it is actually taken as an anomalous result and not considered, then as analysed in FORMULA E S7: 7 ROUNDS, AN INDEPTH OVERVIEW, Mercedes EQ would find themselves in the 3rd position, but what that round does show are two things: the first being, Mercedes’s understanding of the track and the race and secondly, their efficiency as Nyck de Vries who would have scored the 25 points even if the race was a normal one as he saved a lot of energy, enough to make an overtake on Antonio Felix Da Costa, even after making so many places through the races. This reflects on the efficiency of the car and its powertrain.
Stoffel Vandoorne has done well in Qualifying even on tracks that have demanded more than just good speed from the car, he has done well on tracks that have demanded precision, racing to the edge and complete control, with turns that demand the right amount of pace to stay safe and still be the fastest, but he has had his own share of bad luck which has caused him to suffer a lot. From his teammate getting too excited to overtake to his team’s officials making an error while entering the details of his car’s components on the system. Stoffel Vandoorne has been a driver, who alongwith his team has been able to give good performances and has been one who has been able to drive through field and gain a handful of places even when he has had to start towards the back of the grid but it seems like the Mercedes car although is efficient and is fast, at the back of the grid, at times, especially in the hands of De Vries, the car seems slow and not upto pace. With Stoffel being their main qualifying driver, in which also he doesn’t succeed everytime, if Mercedes are unable to show some good performance in terms of recovering from the back of the field, they will lose that top position to teams like Jaguar and DS Techeetah pretty soon.
NYCK DE VRIES AND MERCEDES
Mercedes can seal the game, if De Vries performs in the qualifying session like he did in Diriyah Round 1 with a lap which many called as the “greatest lap in Formula E” that they had witnessed. Nyck is crucial to Mercedes’s chances of winning the championship. Qualifying is crucial and keeping patience in a race, like he did in Valencia, is crucial. And Nyck needs to do well in all weather conditions, and on all tracks. Nyck needs to respect the amount of width that a track provides him, even if it is less and he needs to respect the other drivers trying to make racing move as well.
Nyck de Vries might be helped a little at some tracks that Formula E is going to, and if Nyck is able to capitalise on the designs that those tracks have, them Mercedes are almost guaranteed another championship in a somewhat new racing series for them.
But what Mercedes EQ also need to be wary of, are the two very significant threats posed by Jaguar Racing and even DS Techeetah, who are improving their performance each and every race and as analysed in DS TECHEETAH: THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS | CAN THEY DEFEND? AND ATTACK FOR THE SAME. And they can only win this battle through teamwork and equally good performance by both their drivers, in which they qualify close to each other and towards the front of the grid that is, and not towards the back of the grid. Qualifying is more important for Mercedes than the other two teams in the Top 3 of the ABB Formula E FIA World Championship Season 7 after 7 rounds.
All in all, Mercedes have the capability but are disadvantaged at some fronts where the other teams are doing very well and that is the reason why Mercedes need to focus a lot on improving themselves as otherwise, Mercedes might slip as down as to the 3rd position in the Team Standings.
|ELECTRIC RACING HAS BEEN ELECTRICAL IN 2021|
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