John N
Lewis Hamilton is hopeful Mercedes can get within range of Ferrari and Red Bull after their new aerodynamic package gave promising results in practice for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Mercedes have been as much as a second per lap slower than Ferrari and Red Bull over the season’s opening races. However, they ended Friday practice at the Circuit de Catalunya second and third on the times’ sheets.
George Russell set the second-quickest time, a tenth of a second off pace-setter Charles Leclerc. Hamilton lapped within a tenth of a second of his teammate. Mercedes brought several updates for their problematic W13 in Spain.
They include several revisions to the floor intended to change underbody aerodynamics which has troubled all year to improve porpoising problems which have plagued the team since its F1 debut last year. Changes were also made to its front wing endplates.”
Lewis Hamilton said the first day of running with the updated car had been “positive” for the team. “I’m super happy with the progress, so a big thank you to everyone back at the factory for not giving up and continuing to push.
We’re not the quickest, but we’re on our way. The porpoising has lessened in Spain. “It’s the first time we’ve driven down the straight without bouncing, Hamilton said. “We’ve still got bouncing, but it’s way better,” Hamilton said.
It’s still tricky with the car, but it’s easier than before. I’m grateful for all upgrades. We need to fine-tune them into the next session.
Hopefully, we can tackle the guys’ heels up ahead tomorrow.” Russell said that since the upgrade, his W13 is “definitely reacting differently. We don’t have quite as much porpoising in the straights, but we’re still experiencing it a bit here and there in the corners, and ultimately you need to dial it out through the corners.”
However, he doesn’t believe that the team will be able to outpace Red Bull again on Saturday. “Red Bull still looks very strong, and they look like a team to be reckoned with at the moment,” he said.
Nonetheless, Russell shares Hamilton’s belief that there is much more to come from the upgraded car. “I see no reason why we can’t be as far away from the front as we showed, if not a little closer,” he said. “But there are differences with power modes. I think Ferrari and Red Bull were in their lowest power modes, so they have an advantage over us there.”
