For months now, Ferrari have constantly found themselves flaunting breakthrough after breakthroughs, thanks to their newly designed power unit and Shell’s impeccable job at retrieving the lost hp since the arrival of E10 fuel. But, it is now time for Mercedes to rise up to the occasion, barely a day after announcing the launch date of W13.

Reports are starting to acknowledge that, much like Ferrari, Mercedes have made quite a few big steps in terms of the development of their 2022 challenger.

Mercedes build a new turbocharger

According to Motorsport, Mercedes have managed to use the services of a German specialist in order to build a commendable turbocharger. Now, with the new turbocharger in place, it is likely that Mercedes will embrace the freedom of opting for extreme strategies.

What’s more, the new turbocharger is capable of enhancing the qualities of the six-cylinder engine and hybrid recharging. This very well comes as a blessing amid the breakthrough by Petronas, Mercedes’ fuel partner. Similar to Shell, Petronas, too, have managed to retrieve around 20 hp which they initially lost in the bench test with E10 fuels.

Now, amid such positive news, Mercedes’ dominion over the sport seems much likelier to extend into the 2022 season.

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Stronger power unit in the making?

Hywel Thomas, Chief Engineer at Brixworth, is desperately looking to build a power unit that slashes out one of Mercedes’ biggest weaknesses in 2021.

While Red Bull enjoyed immense reliability out of Honda’s engine, Mercedes were frequently struck with heartbreaks; Hamilton used five PUs while Valtteri Bottas used six PUs last season. Certainly crucial in the championship fight.

Yes, it almost paid dividends in the end, as the Brackley outfit used the flaw to their advantage by mapping the engine configuration to an extreme. However, come 2022, they will be hoping not to end up in a similar situation during the second half of the season.

Overall, the factors that were pulling Mercedes back in 2021 are finally starting to let go. So, with the season-opener, Bahrain GP, just around the corner, can the Silver Arrows peg back more such enhancements to embrace a dominant start to the season? We’ll know soon enough.

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