Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has warned followers of the workforce that the Brackley outfit faces an escalating menace from a resurgent Ferrari and Crimson Bull.
Talking after the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone, the place George Russell salvage a second-place end whereas team-mate Kimi Antonelli suffered a dislodged wheel protect, Shovlin famous the steps taken by Mercedes’ rivals over current grands prix.
“After Austria, we thought Crimson Bull had been going to be actually fast. Ferrari positively seemed like they’re fast. However we simply must primarily deal with ourselves, make certain we’re working nicely, we’re getting the automobile to the end reliably,” Shovlin mentioned in the course of the newest episode of the Nu Silver Arrows Radio Present.
Not like different groups which have launched main growth packages, Mercedes has adopted a special strategy for its W17 challenger. Quite than bringing a big improve in a single go, the workforce is choosing a gradual stream of smaller updates at each grand prix.
“We’re bringing efficiency to it. We’ve not finished an enormous package like a few of our rivals. However each week, we’re attempting to carry efficiency to only maintain ourselves forward in the meanwhile,” Shovlin added.
“We’re fortunate that we have a automobile that works throughout an entire vary of tracks. Effectively, in all probability not fortunate. I feel we have finished a great job at engineering a automobile that works throughout a full vary of tracks.
George Russell, Mercedes
Picture by: Steven Tee / LAT Pictures by way of Getty Pictures
“A number of prep goes into the circuits to make it possible for we land the automobile in the fitting place and we are able to carry out nicely. We had a few circuits lately, like Monaco and Austria, which were robust locations for us over the previous few years. It was nice that we may flip it round there.
“However Spa is a very bizarre monitor, tough from an vitality standpoint. So there’s numerous work we have to do to ensure we are able to hit the bottom operating.”
The tenth spherical of the 2026 season will happen at Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix from 17-19 July.
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