Mercedes, new clutch lever for departures: “Let’s see if it will help us”

Mercedes has taken the departure issue very seriously. The many slow starts in the first races pushed the Brackley team to work on multiple fronts, intervening both on the software part and on the clutch lever. This is directly confirmed by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who indicates the changes to the steering wheel as the most important ones, hoping that the problem is finally behind us. Mercedes’ work When asked on the subject on the eve of the Canadian Grand Prix, the world championship leader revealed the work that Mercedes has carried out in recent weeks: “This weekend we have a different clutch lever, we have made a change in this area. In terms of software, they have certainly worked a lot, because in Miami we had a bit of problems in this aspect at the start. They have certainly made some changes, but the most important one is on the steering wheel. Let’s see if this weekend will help us make some decent starts.” Fixing the standing start has become a priority for Mercedes. Although the Silver Arrows have won all the races held so far and are preparing to introduce an important package of updates, in Brackley they expect a progressive convergence between their teams, which will make it increasingly difficult to recover from a possible bad start. However, the Sprint format scheduled for Canada will not help to test the new features, as we will only have the starting tests available after the first free practice session to familiarize ourselves with the new clutch. Photo by Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images A problem not just with the turbo At the beginning of the year, Mercedes’ slow starts were mainly attributed to the larger turbo compared to the Ferrari one, a design choice that gives the Maranello Scuderia an advantage at the start. Added to this difference were some procedural errors, such as the insufficient charging of the battery on the reconnaissance lap in Australia and some shortcomings by the pilots on other occasions. Antonelli had trained for a long time on the simulator on the starts in preparation for Miami, where, however, the Mercedes ran into difficulty again when the traffic lights went out. The work on the software and the changes to the clutch now aim to better dose the torque transmitted to the wheels to limit slipping, but only the track will be able to say whether what has been done will be enough. Click here to add Formula Passion as your favorite source on Google Discover: you will find our content more easily!

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-05-22 01:10:00