Formula 1, next Mercedes attack: 2 updates before the summer break

“We’re learning a lot faster than before the change of concept, so we should be able to make some progress in the next few weeks,” revealed Toto Wolff after the race in Canada. The Austrian announced in the same breath that Mercedes will bring two major updates before the four-week summer break.

Mercedes in Formula 1 upswing: Canada better than expected

After numerous unsuccessful attempts to make the zero sidepod concept competitive, Mercedes decided internally after the test drives in Bahrain to throw the aerodynamically unique approach overboard. For the Monaco Grand Prix, the black Silver Arrow received the upgrade that Lewis Hamilton and George Russel had been eagerly awaiting – including renewed sidepods, but also a new underbody and a new suspension

Both Mercedes drivers were on the podium in Barcelona, ​​but Wolff immediately put the brakes on the euphoria. The slow corners and long straights of the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve would not suit your own car. Nevertheless, the former series world champion showed a promising performance. “But then we qualified fourth and fifth. In the race, Lewis and George showed a strong performance up to his accident,” summed up Mike Elliott, Chief Technology Officer at Mercedes.

Hamilton also put pressure on Fernando Alonso throughout the race, who after the Grand Prix claimed to have completed 70 qualifying laps. So Mercedes seems to be on the right track: “We now had the chance to observe how the update works on different tracks. We are pleased that the update did exactly what we expected,” said Elliott.

Mercedes concept change proven to be successful

So far, Mercedes has completed three race weekends with the overhauled W14, which celebrated its debut on the atypical street circuit in Monaco. Due to the cancellation of the race in Imola. Since then, the team has been analyzing all the collected data about the new car day and night and is already working on the next innovations that can be expected in the coming weeks.

The next major update should be ready in time for the home Grand Prix of the two British Mercedes drivers at Silverstone. The second major update could presumably be ready for use by the last race weekend before the summer break at Spa-Francorchamps.

However, Elliott does not allow himself to be carried away by daring performance forecasts. After all, Mercedes expected a less competitive weekend in Canada – and were pleasantly surprised. Nevertheless, he emphasizes: “The car still has more difficulties with slow corners,” says Elliott. “But the next tracks have more medium-fast and fast corners. We should be more competitive at Silverstone and Austria could also accommodate us.”