Mercedes upgrades ‘will keep coming’ – including at Spanish GP
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The German manufacturer finally debuted long-awaited upgrades for their underperforming W14 challenger in Monaco last weekend as part of a push to turnaround their F1 fortunes and cut the gap to pace-setters Red Bull. Is Daniel Ricciardo returning to Formula 1 in 2023?Video of Is Daniel Ricciardo returning to Formula 1 in 2023?And further updates will be introduced in Barcelona this weekend, returning Mercedes technical director James Allison has confirmed. “We certainly will settle back and and look at what the Monaco upgrade package has brought us at a more normal track,” Allison said in Mercedes’ post-race debrief video. “But we will also push on in parallel with a whole bunch more things. So there will be a little bit we’re bringing to Barcelona and many more things in the races that follow. “We can’t afford to just do everything sequentially. Although there’s a sort of academic purity to that, it’s just too slow way ahead. “So the upgrades will keep coming. Hopefully a decent package to build upon what we put on the track in Monaco and we just step forward from here up to the summer break and beyond.”
Lewis Hamilton finished fourth with teammate George Russell in fifth in Monaco as both Mercedes drivers beat the two Ferrari cars. Allison warned it is “too early” to judge the impact of the upgrades, which included a new sidepod design, due to the unique nature of the Monaco circuit. Related Montoya defends “very underrated” Stroll: ‘Alonso will make him better’ Vettel joins new sport in first venture since F1 retirement “I would say it’s too early to say what their impact will be on the rest of the season because Monaco is such a terribly difficult place to make these sort of judgements at,” Allison explained. “We didn’t set the world on fire in qualifying but the car had reasonably tidy race pace and we will wait until the next race to find out to see where we truly stand at a more normal track. “But the drivers seemed to give reasonable feedback about the car. They felt good under braking, the car felt okay. “And the data we took off the car off the aerodynamic sensors were not giving us any alarm bells. They were suggesting that things were in line with expectation.”
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