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After a strong Friday in Barcelona for Mercedes, especially in FP2, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton claims that while the W13 may not currently be the quickest car on the grid, it is certainly getting there.
As reported by Pitpass, the experienced Mercedes driver spoke about the progress made by the team and his expectations from the upgrades brought in ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. He said:
“I’m super happy with the progress and a massive thank you to the team back at the factory for all the hard work, refusing to give up and continuing to push. We’re not the quickest yet but I think we’re on our way. It’s the first time we’ve driven down the straight without bouncing; we still have some, but it’s way better.”
He went to say:
“We’re starting to eke into the potential of the car. It remains tough out there but much nicer to drive than it has been before. We’ve brought a few upgrades and we now need to fine tune them. We have a lot of data to go through to position the car, I think we can get it into an even better place for tomorrow to hopefully tap on the heels of the guys in front. Degradation is going to be key here, with these tyres you can’t attack, attack, attack - they require a lot of management in these temperatures.”
Ferrari and Red Bull have been the frontrunners this season and in a league of their own. Mercedes will be looking to reduce their points deficit to these two teams even further this weekend.
Degradation is going to be "make-or-break" for Mercedes at the Spanish GP, says George Russell
Mercedes' George Russell mentioned that both Ferrari and Red Bull would show significant improvements in today's qualifying session due to having run their "lowest power modes" on Friday.
The 24-year-old also revealed that there are fewer struggles with porpoising on the straights and that he sees "no reason why" the team would not be able to put up a challenge to the likes of Red Bull this weekend. He said:
“In Miami we were quickest on Friday, here we’re second but the car is definitely reacting differently. We don’t have the porpoising on the straights which is great but we’re still experiencing it here and there through the corners which ultimately we need to dial out. Red Bull still look very strong and the team to be reckoned with at the moment. I see no reason why we can’t be as close, if not a little closer, to the front throughout the weekend.”
He further added:
“With the differences in power modes it is difficult to tell where we are on true pace, Ferrari and Red Bull looked to be in their lowest power modes. Degradation was massive for everyone and that’s going to be make-or-break in the race on Sunday so that’ll be our focus tonight.”
George Russell has had an impressive start to his first season with Mercedes and has secured a top-five finish in every race so far, a streak he would certainly like to extend this weekend. As for his more experienced teammate Lewis Hamilton, he will be looking forward to returning to his old form once again.
