The Mercedes was scheduled to bring new upgrades during the race in Imola. However, the floods in the Italian region on the scheduled race weekend forced Formula 1 to cancel that race. Therefore, the upgrades got into action in the following week in Monaco, and now Lewis Hamilton, with his assessment, as per Motorsport, before the Spanish Grand Prix, has informed that the upgrades aren’t what he hoped for.
This season, Mercedes started on an underwhelming note. But with the Imola upgrades, they hoped for a recovery. In the new update, they even returned from a zero sidepod concept to a sidepod similar to Red Bull.
But in Monaco, Mercedes was nowhere near to compete for the podium. Nevertheless, Hamilton claims that it’s a step in the right direction. But how?
Lewis Hamilton isn’t fully satisfied with the improvements
Talking about the new upgrades, Hamilton gave his honest opinions. For him, the upgrades aren’t as impressive as he thought, but still, they are bringing some improvements. But something substantial for him will only happen when his team is within a second’s difference against Red Bull.
“It’s not the step forward we were hoping for,” said Hamilton. “The real step forward that we’re hoping for is the one-second gap [with Red Bull ] in race pace, for example. We haven’t closed that with these upgrades, but they’re a step in the right way.”
Hamilton also adds that he feels more confident in the car with the new upgrades. With this development, he looks forward to an improved race pace in Spain.
George Russell believes Ferrari will be toppled
With this weekend’s new package in the loop, Mercedes star George Russell is hopeful against Ferrari. During the Thursday press conference, he opined that Mercedes, with new upgrades, will overtake Ferrari.
Moreover, he thinks that they could be at par with Aston Martin, who have been the dark horses this season by getting five podiums in the first six races. Therefore, Russell thinks targeting P2 in the constructors’ title would be realistic.
Now, whether the new changes will translate into better results remains to be seen. Though they debuted in Monaco, it wasn’t the right place to judge their progress because of the track limitations.
