F1 News
Allison on Mercedes upgrades: 'There is so much more to do'
For the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, Mercedes brought a lot of upgrades for the W14. In Monaco, these still seemed to have little impact, but of course that is a unique circuit. In the race weekends in Spain and Canada, it became clear that Mercedes had made a big move. According to James Allison, the upgrades were not just about the W14's speed.
In Monaco, Mercedes waived their innovative 'zeropods'. The German constructor had long been the only team in the field with a car 'without' sidepods, but went in the direction of dominant Red Bull Racing with the upgrade. In fact, the car looked so different that it was even called the W14B.
Allison on effect of Mercedes upgrades
In Spain, Mercedes finished with two cars on the podium. George Russell finished handsomely third from 12th starting position, with Lewis Hamilton crossing the line in second place. In Canada, the German team scored another podium, here the seven-time world champion finished third, behind Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen.
"I think they felt a bit happier under braking. But there's so much more to do to make it competitive with the front of the grid. I think the main thing people were responding to was just the pace. It wasn't... I don't think it felt like a lovely car to be in. We got a good return on the effort that everyone had made to bring those upgrades forward," Mercedes' technical director told the press conference in Canada.