Mercedes tease further upgrades after ‘encouraging’ Spanish GP showing

Mercedes were left “very encouraged” by their competitiveness at the Spanish Grand Prix but have teased the introduction of more upgrades at the upcoming F1 races.

For the second race in a row, Mercedes scored a podium on merit with one of their cars as Lewis Hamilton claimed his first rostrum of the season in Barcelona in third, leading home teammate George Russell, who finished fourth.

It has followed a recent development push that has left Mercedes confident they are finally getting to grips with their troublesome W15 challenger.

“Before going to Barcelona, we were asking the question, was it a specific of the Montreal circuit that meant that George was able to get pole position and we were racing so well there,” Mercedes’ trackside performance director Andrew Shovlin said on the team’s latest post-race debrief video.

“Montreal is unusual. It’s a lot of slow speed corners and it was also cold there. So generating temperature was actually a challenge.

“Barcelona, it's a lot warmer, there's a lot more high speed, a lot more energy. And it's a track that's a good indication of the strengths and weakness of a car. So for us, very encouraging to see that we were quick enough to get on the podium there. We didn't benefit from anyone else's misfortune.

“So clearly, yes, the car's working well. But what we also know is we need to keep delivering these updates and we're working hard to do that because that gap has been coming down and down. Hopefully we can continue to shrink it and hopefully get to a point where we can fight for wins.”

Mercedes promise 'more stuff coming'

Shovlin added: “To see both drivers on the podium in the last two events, that’s a sign of the progress that we've made with all the hard work back at the factory. But we want more, we want to do better than third places.

“So we're working hard, but we've got plans and we've got parts coming and hopefully that will all come to fruition. 

"In terms of Austria, it's a tricky circuit and it's a sprint race. So with a sprint race, you've got one hour to get the car sorted out and set up. Now, the recent changes we've made to the car, it's an easier thing to work with.

“The drivers have been much happier with the start setups. We've had to make less changes. So hopefully that will put us in a good place to start the weekend. 

"You've then got two sets of qualifying, two separate races. So there's plenty to contend with. And then in Austria, you always get the question of the weather. Sometimes it's really hot, sometimes it's wet. So there's plenty to think about.

“But the drivers, the team, they're all enjoying racing the car that we've got now. We're fighting for the bigger points and we're excited to get going in Austria.”

Asked what upgrades are planned, Shovlin cagily replied: “Well, we've got a plan to bring more performance to the car and it's some of the areas that we’ve been working on recently, just aerodynamic development, mechanical developments, and those are coming through in the next few races.

“Now, we don't really want to give our competitors an idea of when we're bringing an update because then they'll be pushing to try and bring one sooner. But certainly we've got more stuff coming.

“We can see that gap getting down and as it gets smaller, it’s motivating people even more to sort of push to bring small developments. And qualifying has been so tight recently.

“Just bringing a few hundredths of a second to a car can see you further up the grid. That gives you an opportunity to finish in better places. So we are flat out. As I said, I won't tell you quite what the development plans over the next few races are.”