Mercedes had both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in podium contention in Canada last time out and will hope to continue fighting at the front in Barcelona this weekend
Mercedes technical director James Allison said it is unlikely that his team will be “right at the front” at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Expectations for the Silver Arrows heading into the Barcelona race are higher than they have been for a long time. George Russell secured their first podium of the year last time out in Montreal, while Lewis Hamilton was one place behind and also scored his best Grand Prix result of 2024 so far.
And both Mercedes drivers were on the podium at the end of last year’s Spanish GP. Allison has been tempering those expectations, though, and doesn’t have a lot of hope of another fight for glory in Barcelona this weekend.
He said: “The changes we have made are making this car a better car and that will be true at every circuit we go to. The characteristics of Montreal make it look a little quicker than we have a natural right to command at the coming races.
“In Barcelona, I think it more likely that we will be competitive, but not right at the front. Because the next tracks are a little bit of a sterner test of a car. Hot asphalt, wider cornering speeds.”
Allison went on to add though: “However, I also know what we have got coming. I also know what we are planning to further improve the car. Our challenge is just to keep those upgrades arriving at a pace that the others cannot keep up with.
“In doing that, just bullying our car to the front by virtue of the effort made by everybody here over the coming weeks and months to get the car so that it can have its Montreal weekend or better at any track that we face in the future.”
Meanwhile, team principal Toto Wolff is looking forward to the test provided by the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He said: “We have continued to make incremental gains across the past few races. It was encouraging therefore to take another positive step forward in Canada. To see that translate into our strongest team result of the season so far is a reward for everyone’s hard work.
“The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a unique track, however… Barcelona will provide a good test of our progress. It has a mix of fast, medium, and low-speed corners, a long straight and plenty of elevation change.
“Tracks that contain this wide speed range have been a weakness of ours so far this year. This weekend will therefore provide another opportunity to evaluate our progress through our recent updates, and we hope to build on the positive momentum from Montreal.”
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