Andrew Shovlin Admits Mercedes Errors in Formula 1 Ground Effect Era

Formula 1, Sportrik Media - Andrew Shovlin, trackside engineering director of Mercedes AMG Petronas, has admitted that the Brackley-based team was guilty of overthinking its technical approach during the ground-effect regulation era in Formula 1, a period that saw the team fall behind the dominant force of Red Bull Racing.

The major regulation overhaul introduced by the FIA in 2022 forced every team to rethink its aerodynamic philosophy, but Mercedes suffered a dramatic drop in competitiveness. After previously dominating the sport with Lewis Hamilton, the team was outperformed by Red Bull, which mastered the ground-effect concept far more efficiently, particularly through a car philosophy perfectly aligned with the driving style of Max Verstappen.

Speaking to international media, Andrew Shovlin rejected the idea that Mercedes had been too brave in its design philosophy, but acknowledged that the team should have adopted proven solutions much earlier. He stressed that innovation remains central to Mercedes' DNA, yet an excessively analytical mindset slowed the team's response to the realities of on-track performance.

"It is difficult to say too brave, because when we have won championships, it has never been by copying," Shovlin said. "It has always been by innovating. But there were areas where we could have copied sooner and taken a simpler route. We were being too analytical and overthinking it, and a more experimental approach would have given us more progress in the early stages of these regulations."

Those strategic missteps left Mercedes capable of only occasional race victories, without ever becoming a true title contender in either championship. Even lead driver George Russell was frequently forced to extract results from an inconsistent car, especially when compared to the stability and efficiency of Red Bull Racing's ground-effect package.

Shovlin also explained that modern Formula 1 development involves dozens of parallel projects, each carrying its own risk of failure. When too many high-risk concepts are pursued at the same time, the likelihood of overall failure increases, which he believes was a key factor in Mercedes' struggles.

"When you are developing a car, there are many projects, and each one carries a risk of failure," he added. "If the cumulative risk is too high, it will not work. You need ambition, and you need pioneers to win. But it has to be balanced, and ambitious projects have to be delivered, otherwise they are failures."

With a new regulatory cycle reshaping the competitive order, Mercedes is now aiming to apply those hard-learned lessons and re-establish itself as a consistent title contender. A more pragmatic development model, combined with the team's traditional innovation culture, is expected to define its recovery path as analysed in depth by https://sportrik.com/en.