© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes Technical Director James Allison says Lewis Hamilton is helping the team “find the edge”, while they are working on a “reasonable number of things that are going to make our car faster”.
After a decisive defeat at the hands of Max Verstappen and Red Bull at the Styrian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton said Mercedes needs to develop some upgrades for their car.
Team principal Toto Wolff later said that the team has switched focus to their 2022 challenger, which will limit its ability to upgrade their current car.
This created quite an uproar in the Mercedes fan community, however James Allison now pours some water on the fire and says there are upgrades in the works
“We have reasonable number of things that are going to make our car faster in the coming races, let’s hope they prove sufficient,” the Briton said after the race on the F1 Nation podcast.
Allison adds that the development of the new car, and the work on the current one, are “not at odds with each other”.
“I don’t think those two things are at odds with each other. I don’t think Toto has said precisely that.
“What Toto points out is that next year’s rules are a big and hairy affair and they demand a huge amount of our attention.
“So most of the focus of our factory has switched over to the performance discovery for next year, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t things still in the food chain from prior to that focus switch.
If you like SilverArrows.Net, consider supporting us by buying us a coffee!
“Furthermore it isn’t all of the factory, and furthermore, we [Brackley] are only one of two factories. There’s also the PU factory [at Brixworth] and there is a little bit more to come from the PU.
“So there’s some more aerodynamic change in the offing, a little bit of PU, we hope, on the delivery side, and just a few things that are not quite as tidy as we would wish that we still have an opportunity to put right while this season is still very much alive and hot.”
The Briton goes on to explain the role Lewis Hamilton is playing in Mercedes’ efforts to improve their car.
“Ever since the rule changes that were introduced aerodynamically for looking after the tyres, we have found it hellishly hard to find the sort of performance gain rate that we found previously prior to those rules.
“[Lewis] wants to be driving a car that allows him to showcase his skill, but he’s absolutely brilliant for us in these circumstances because he’s so focused on winning and on championships that his response to a situation like this is just to redouble his own contribution
“He was in our factory running a lot of simulator laps last week and he is as committed as anybody in making sure that we find the edge that we need to, to be able to put pressure on the Red Bull in front.
“And I think you see him at his absolute best,” concluded Allison.
