It is by no means unusual for Formula 1 teams to attach additional sensors to their cars on race weekends in order to collect data for further development. However, it rarely happens that such sensors that are not required for the use of the vehicle are not removed even in qualifying and the race.
This is what happened at the Australian Grand Prix, on Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes F1 W13 E Performance. Sensors that were not installed on George Russell were visible both on the side flanks of its underbody and under the vehicle. And that meant some extra weight for Hamilton’s car.
A glowing sensor on the underbody of Hamilton’s W13, which was supposed to measure the ground clearance, was particularly striking. Apparently, Mercedes expected meaningful data about the behavior of “porpoising”, which is still considered the biggest single problem of the “Silver Arrow”.
“In a normal year, we wouldn’t even consider leaving such sensors on the car,” admits chief strategist James Vowles in the Mercedes team’s current strategy video for the Melbourne race weekend.
“Normally you would put in the sensors you absolutely need to understand what’s going on. But obviously this year is not a normal year for us and the car is already overweight.”
Hamilton finished fourth behind Russell at Albert Park after dropping behind his team-mate during pit stops, who was able to complete his tire change under safety car conditions.
Although Hamilton was able to catch up with Russell towards the end of the race, problems with increased temperature prevented the seven-time world champion from attacking. According to Vowles, it’s not uncommon for the weight of the two cars to differ marginally, if only because of the sheer number of different parts, which can never be exactly the same weight.
Hardly any additional weight due to sensors
The additional sensors at Hamilton were hardly significant: “There are thousands of components that make up the racing cars for George and Lewis, and these components cannot all have exactly the same weight,” explains Vowles.
“It’s a few grams here and a few grams there, but when our cars were weighed on the FIA scales it showed the difference was really just a few grams. So the time lost Lewis had through the sensors was very slightly. And that’s exactly what we had in mind.”
Vowles emphasizes that the data collected by the sensors is helpful, but: “It’s not like we’re going to turn everything upside down and have the solution ready in one race. But at least we have found clues and an understanding of what what to do to get ahead.”