Despite not listing upgrades on the FIA’s official car presentation document, Mercedes has indeed brought an upgrade to this weekend’s Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix in the form of a lighter floor, according to reports.
Barcelona is seen as a typical Formula 1 location for teams to bring upgrades as it is believed the perfect venue to asses an F1 car’s true performance.
Ferrari has adopted this approach, bringing seven revisions to its machine, likewise RB, which had six upgrades listed on Friday’s FIA car presentation document.
Mercedes however, did not list any upgrades on the document, prompting the media to probe Team Principal Toto Wolff on the matter during Friday’s press conference.
“We brought parts, quite a bit to this race, but maybe not the visible ones,” Wolff said.
“So I think in that fight, you need to add performance every single Grand Prix.
“And even if it’s just a few milliseconds here and there, but we brought parts.”
Wolff’s comments contradict the absence of listed upgrades in the Car Presentation document, but Motorsport.com reports that the Brackley-based Mercedes Formula 1 outfit has brought a lighter iteration of its floor to this weekend’s GP.
The reason that the part wasn’t listed in the upgrade document is because the floor is the exact shape and geometry as the one that proceeded it, just lighter.
Only items that are different in shape and geometry need to be listed and thus the new lightened floor flew under the radar.
Still, a critical component being reduced in mass will undoubtedly have its performance benefits and Mercedes will look to press on with its work to climb back up the Formula 1 pecking order as a result.
The eight-time F1 Constructors’ champions ended Friday on a high note with Lewis Hamilton topping Free Practice 2 and the Brit admitted that “the car’s feeling really great.”
Mercedes has clearly shown promise over recent races.
George Russell was fourth in Monaco and followed that up with pole position and a thrid place finish in Canada.
In Canada particularly, Mercedes for the first time this season looked capable of fighting with Red Bull and McLaren, showing significant signs of a turnaround after a difficult start to the year.
“Since Imola, we’ve brought upgrades to every single race, smaller and bigger ones,” Wolff said when speaking about the team’s progress.
“So, you know, there’s the odd thing that’s visible where people talk about and the other things that are not.
“But it was aero and it was mechanical. And I would say that on the mechanical side, we’ve seen that the car is very good over bumps and kerbs. The ride is very smooth. And I would say that all of these marginal gains have contributed to better lap times.”
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