© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin says the team will hopefully “make a decent step” once the upgrades start arriving.
During his appearance on Mercedes’ Nu Silver Arrows show, the team’s Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin confirmed upgrades are coming for the W17.
“The updates [are] going to come from Malaysia onwards,” Shovlin said.
“And hopefully we’ll make a decent step. I don’t think we’re going to be out front by miles, but hopefully we’ll be back into a position where we can really go into qualifying knowing that we’re fighting for pole.
“We haven’t got much new coming to Baku, but actually that’s a circuit that’s more about drag than downforce.
“So, the car was good in Monza. Hopefully it will work well in Baku, but you need a car that can have a good straight-line speed.
“There are other things, though, you need in Baku, like the street circuit nature, almost that Monaco-esque, being able to deal with the low speed, keeping all the wheels on the ground.”
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Despite recent small dips in form, compared to early parts of the season, Shovlin says the team is using Monza as its baseline for performance.
“I think if we hadn’t had Monza, we would again be saying, ‘Baku, we haven’t updated for a while, that’s going to be a tough circuit for us’.
“I think the fact that we showed that our car works well at these tracks that need low drag, we have an efficient car, we look good in a straight line, Red Bull are quite similar, and while that’s not the only thing you need at Baku, I think, if you’ve got that, you’re in with a decent shout.
“And then we’ve got to sort it out for the rather twisty, wiggly bit through the castle and those corners.
“But we’re looking forward to it, and it is a track that George has been good at before. Kimi knows it now; it’s not his first year.
“Hopefully we’ll be in a position to fight for a win.”
