The Brackley -based team believes that they are finally making some progress on the development of the W13, and the team has a few more developments lined up for the next race at Silverstone.
While it’s true that the smooth nature of the British track could suit the Mercedes, technical director Mike Elliott remains cautious, though keen to uphold expectations that sooner rather than later they could start challenging Red Bull. and Ferrari.
In the usual video analysis of Mercedes after the Canadian GP race, Elliott acknowledged that the team had high expectations for the British Grand Prix: “One thing you can be sure of is that we will give the maximum we can” .
“We will bring new parts to Silverstone and try to take a step forward with the car, to see if we can get some extra pace with the package that we have, as well as with the new parts that we are going to introduce.”
“I think at the same time we have to be honest with ourselves and say that, at the moment, we are a little bit behind Ferrari and Red Bull , so if the race is normal, we have little chance,” he said, referring to if they could surprise in Great Britain.
Mercedes made a breakthrough when it came to the porpoising problem with the changes introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix.
However, they have found that to get the best performance out of it, they have to run the W13 very close to the tarmac, which has obviously been a problem on the bumpier circuits.
While it is true that everything indicates that Silverstone should be better suited to the German team’s car, they do not expect things to be very different.
“I think Silverstone will be a circuit that suits us a bit better, like Barcelona was, but it will still be a bit difficult,” Elliott added.
“Whatever happens, we will give it our all. Our drivers will try and give it their all because we want to win again.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff shared Elliott ‘s view on the expectations for the British GP, stating that there is a lot of work to be done before the team is back where it wants to be.
“Silverstone has been a good circuit for us in the past and the layout is smoother compared to the last three, but it’s not Barcelona,” he said.
“We should manage our own expectations and just work hard, analyze the data and find sensible solutions: not only for Silverstone, but also for the future,” he concluded.
