Lewis Hamilton and George Russell boost as Toto Wolff lets slip on Mercedes plan

19 June 2023 , 13:07

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Toto Wolff had a positive update for Mercedes fans after the Canadian Grand Prix (Image: AP)

Mercedes plan to introduce a huge car upgrade for the British Grand Prix in a perfectly-timed boost to the team's English drivers.

The Silver Arrows started the season poorly for the second year in a row. But an upgrade introduced in Monaco and established a week later in Spain has helped them to become much more competitive.

Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix was expected to be tougher for them. Despite those gloomy predictions, Lewis Hamilton reached the podium on a track which didn't suit their car while George Russell also looked good prior to his crash.

Toto Wolff is pleased with the progress his team has made. And he will be hoping for more with further upgrades on the horizon.

He confirmed as much as he spoke in Montreal about Mercedes' improvements. "Yeah, we're bringing a larger [upgrade package] to Silverstone," the Austrian told reporters.

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"And then we should have another one before [summer] shutdown. It's just that the learnings have accelerated a lot since we changed some of the conceptual architecture. There should be decent steps coming in the next four races."

Regarding his team's results in Canada, he added: "We didn't expect to perform in Canada because of the car's DNA at the moment, so it's encouraging to be not so far away. But one must not forget Max [Verstappen] is still having an easier time in the front – not cruising but still I think there is margin. So, there's quite the gain to catch up."

Lewis Hamilton's Montreal podium was a pleasant surprise for Mercedes (Getty Images)

Hamilton will no doubt be delighted at the prospect of having a faster car in front of his home crowd at Silverstone. But he also thinks his team needs to be focusing more on next year's car now, with Red Bull already so far ahead.

"It's going to be a battle of development, I guess, over the rest of the season, said the seven-time world champion. "I reckon Max's team are already working on next year's car, so we need to take our eye a little bit off the ball and focus on next year also but yeah, happy to be up there."

Christian Horner confirmed Hamilton was correct as he talked about his team's developments plans. He said after the Montreal race: "Of course, there are things that we'll keep bringing to this year's car, but a lot of the focus now back in the factory is already on next year."

Daniel Moxon