© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
Andrew Shovlin says Mercedes has “a plan to bring more performance to the car and it’s some of the areas that we’ve been working on recently”.
Mercedes has been steadily improving over the past few races, and the team’s Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin says the plan is to bring “more performance” over the coming weeks.
“We’ve got a plan to bring more performance to the car and it’s some of the areas that we’ve been working on recently, just aerodynamic development, mechanical developments, and those are coming through in the next few races,” Shovlin said on Mercedes’ Spanish Grand Prix debrief video.
“We don’t really want to give our competitors an idea of when we’re bringing an update because then they’ll be pushing to try and bring one sooner, but certainly we’ve got more stuff coming.
“We can see that gap getting down and, as it gets smaller, it’s motivating people even more to push to bring small developments.
“And qualifying has been so tight recently, just bringing a few hundredths of a second to a car can see you further up the grid. That gives you an opportunity to finish in better places.
If you like SilverArrows.Net, consider supporting us by buying us a coffee!
“So we are flat out. I won’t tell you on air quite what the development plans over the next few races are.”
Shovlin then explained the team has made definite progress.
“Great to see both drivers on the podium in the last two events. That’s a sign of the progress that we’ve made with all the hard work back at the factory.
“But we want more, we want to do better than third places. So we’re working hard, but we’ve got plans and we’ve got parts coming and hopefully that will all come to fruition.
“In terms of Austria, it’s a tricky circuit and it’s a sprint race. So with a sprint race, you’ve got one hour to get the car sorted out and set up.
“Now, with the recent changes we’ve made to the car, it’s an easier thing to work with.
“The drivers have been much happier with the start setups. We’ve had to make less changes. So hopefully that will put us in a good place to start the weekend.
“You’ve then got two sets of qualifying, two separate races, so there’s plenty to contend with.
“And then in Austria, you always get the question of the weather – sometimes it’s really hot, sometimes it’s wet – so there’s plenty to think about.
“But the drivers, the team, they’re all enjoying racing the car that we’ve got now.
“We’re fighting for the bigger points and we’re excited to get going in Austria,” the Briton concluded.
