© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin says Red Bull is “a sharp, well-focused team that don’t make many mistakes”, while Max Verstappen is “a very mature, very smart racer”.
Although Mercedes managed to win the Bahrain Grand Prix, Andrew Shovlin warns his team is on the back foot.
“We don’t really have any strengths relative to [Red Bull],” Shovlin said.
“We’ve had a lot of years where we’ve been able to rely on straight-line speed, or high-speed cornering or interconnecting corners.
“But you look at it here and we weren’t taking any time out of them anywhere. There were a couple of corners where they really took chunks out of us in qualifying: the high-speed and also Turn 9/10, they were very strong there.
“And that’s really the main thing. In qualifying we’re just bang on their pace in our best corners and they’re quicker in the others. So we need a faster car, as simple as that.”
Because of this, the Briton predicts a “tough year” for Mercedes.
“We’ve had some tough years in the past few seasons, this is not alien to us and is what we’ve got to work with.
“It’s two teams that look to be pretty much neck and neck at the moment. I think it’s going to be a tough year.
“There’s no doubt Red Bull operate really well. They’re a sharp, well-focused team that don’t make many mistakes. Max is clearly a very mature, very smart racer now and he’s difficult – and they develop well.
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“They’ve shown over every season they’ve got the capacity to put a lot of performance on the car. So, regardless of the start point, this is not going to be an easy championship.
“It’s going to be tight and it’s one we’re not going to give up on. And they’re going to tell you the same.”
Shovlin goes on to explain areas where Mercedes will look for improvements.
“We´re having to look at more subtle areas to do with driveability characteristics. This season is actually going to come down to the fine margins more than normal.
“I don´t see us really being able to develop to a point where we could get clear ahead and hopefully Red Bull won´t develop to a point where they´re clear ahead.”
One of the problems for Mercedes is the fact that the new 2021 regulations favour high-rake cars, while Mercedes is using a low-rake concept. Shovlin says there is no chance that Mercedes could switch concepts in the middle of the season.
“What we certainly can´t do is suddenly say we´re going to lift the rear of our car 30mm and work with that because that would write off the season…
“We’d lose so much in doing that… it´s just not practical,” concluded the Briton.
