How the Rumble in the Jungle can inspire Mercedes to beat Red Bull

After a bruising Styrian Grand Prix, Mercedes announced that while it would limit the development of its W12 Formula 1 car, it was not willing to give up fighting Red Bull for the 2021 title. Although the team's development stream is slowing with a focus on 2022, Mercedes still has lots of options available to keep it in the fight

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It was only a matter of time before the current cast of Formula 1 teams elected to put a pin in the majority of their 2021 development and focus on next year's all-new formula, complete with the return to ground effect-style aerodynamics and simplified wings and bodywork.

Although F1 teams have, in the past, been able to do both simultaneously, the transition for 2022 isn't quite the same as the 2009 and 2017 aero overhauls – after all, there's the small matter of a cost cap to factor in this time around. As the legendary Parks & Recreation character Ron Swanson once opined, don't half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing.

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Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.