Mercedes believes that “there is everything to play this season” and that neither it nor bitter rival Red Bull will “run away” with the F1 title.
After just two Grand Prix, the signs are clear that unlike the last seven Mercedes-dominated seasons, F1 will have a title fight it has longed for and between two sensational drivers in Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
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The likelihood is that the fight will fade, depending on which car suits which track. Mercedes is currently trying to take advantage of Red Bull in the preseason.
Andrew Shovlin, technical director at the trackside, said the last race at Imola was “more even pressure” than at the season opener in Bahrain: “You could watch qualifying [in Imola] and say it [Red Bull] Perhaps should have locked out the front row to watch their rounds.
“But I’m not sure we got everything out of our package. We had problems with the tire temperature, we might have done a better job there.”
“After two races, however, I have the feeling that everything can be played here. We know we have to make the car faster. We know we have to work on all the details.
“I do not think so [in Imola] We absolutely did a perfect job and there is certainly a lot to do.
“But it definitely feels like this is going to be an exciting championship. It doesn’t feel like either of us is running away in terms of performance.
“We’re working hard to develop the car over the next few races and hope we can bring some useful improvements.”
Shovlin has confirmed that a review has been carried out given the slow warm-up of tires, which Valtteri Bottas was particularly hard hit by in cooler, wet conditions.
“Many cars take advantage of the heat generated by the brakes and remember that the brakes can run at 800 to 900 degrees near the end of a braking session,” added Shovlin.
“You can conduct this heat into the rims, which then get into the rubber of the tires and bring them up to temperature.
“That way you can kind of push and pull on the warm-up, but in the long run it adds up to a little more worsening.
“Well this is a tuning tool that many teams have used and we may need to look at how strong the effect is that we can warm the tires and whether we need to do more in the future that respect.
“But it’s one of those areas that we’ll be reviewing before the next race.”
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