It was speculated before that Mercedes GP would be focusing on 2011 despite the Mercedes team insisting that they are not giving up on their 2010 car. Today in the Belgian GP Thursday press conference, Michael Schumacher gave the first clear indication of where their focus lies. For the remainder of the season for Mercedes would focus on staying ahead of Renault in the Constructors championship.
Many factors would have contributed for Mercedes' decision. Brawn GP last year was fighting for the championships till almost the end of the season. That meant that they were quite late on the development for this year's car.
Early on in the season they had weight distribution issues which they tried to fix by introducing a longer wheel base car in Spain. But that couldn't fix the issues their car had with this year tyres, and they have struggled during qualifying although their race pace has been slightly better.
With the exhaust blown diffusers the hot air from the exhaust outlets is channeled to the diffuser floor but that would lead to higher temperatures of the rear suspension and rear tyres. Although Mercedes introduced their exhaust blown diffuser upgrade by Valencia it took them a couple of races more till they could manage the rear tyres overheating issues.
With the cap on the team personnel to 300 by 2011 Mercedes has already downsized their employees, while some of the top teams still operate with a higher number of staff. While it remains to be seen how Formula 1 teams manage a cap on workforce size Mercedes seem to have the edge over other teams in this aspect. However that has hurt their development efforts for this season. With the reduced workforce it would be near impossible to concentrate both on 2010 and 2011. With little chances at both the championships, Mercedes have a better shot at next years title.
Additionally Pirelli has started testing for next years tyres. Teams would soon have data on the tyre specifications for next year and it would make sense Mercedes, Renault to shift focus to 2011 and get a jumpstart on Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari who are fighting a closely fought championship.
In addition to a new tyre supplier for next year, KERS would be used again by teams next year. Although KERS is not mandatory for all teams most of the top teams would be working on it. Ferrari, Williams etc have already run with KERS in the 2009 season. Force India have said they would use KERS 2011. While some of the teams are keen on KERS in 2013 when a new set of regulations would be in force, it could well be that a standard supplier for KERS could be used.
Another key change that would be introduced is the moveable rear wing which can give an extra tenths on the straights and can be used by a driver when close behind a rival. The F-duct is banned from next year but the moveable rear wing can be thought of as a replacement.
From Schumacher's point of view the remainder of the season would give him the needed race experience after the three year long layoff from the sport. While this year hasn't turned out how his fans would have expected it, a head start for the 2011 season would help in Schumacher's quest for a 8th Drivers title.
