Mercedes set to bring more upgrades to Austria after dominant weekend at Montreal

Hot on the heels of a brilliant weekend last time out at Montreal, Mercedes are set to bring more upgrades to their W16 for this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.

The Canadian Grand Prix was an almost perfect weekend for Mercedes. George Russell secured his second consecutive pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Briton then made a great start, and although reigning champion Max Verstappen kept him honest, the Mercedes driver was seemingly controlling proceedings.

Russell completed the race distance with a conventional two-stop strategy, and did not put a foot wrong to convert pole to the win, his first of the year.

His team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli also had a brilliant getaway, a bold move saw the Italian gain a place by overtaking championship leader Oscar Piastri into Turn 3 on the opening lap.

He ran third from there, and came close to picking off reigning champion Max Verstappen when the Dutchman struggled for rear grip at the end of his opening stint.

With McLaren’s MCL39 coming alive in the closing stages of the race, Antonelli came under huge pressure from Piastri, but defended superbly to pick up his first career podium and become the third-youngest driver to stand on the rostrum.

Reflecting on the Montreal race, deputy technical director Simone Resta explained how recent lessons helped unlock performance at the Canadian Grand Prix.

“We had very little degradation and we were able to extend the runs and on a good pace. I think that every track has got different characteristic requirements, you’ve got different energy into the tyres, you’ve got different tarmac.

"So you’ve got a combination of multiple variables and in those conditions our car adapted well and we’ve seen already that in some other tracks, like for example Bahrain or Spain, we were able to work on the set-up and improve the performance.”

“We struggled a little bit more in Imola, for example, but in those conditions, I think with the learning of the races before, we were able to put the car in a good spot.”

Explaining the technical developments in recent races, Resta confirmed that Mercedes were able to introduce a host of upgrades at Montreal including a modified rear suspension that was first trialed at Imola.

“First of all we brought to Canada a development on the floor and also on the front brake. Also, we tested again on Friday a rear suspension that was tested before in Imola and then we confirmed it on Friday and we raced it on Saturday and Sunday.

“I think every race we try to bring something and there are incremental steps, so they’re not game changers and they always help, but I think that our car was particularly well suited to this condition and also we worked quite a lot on the set-up and the approach to the drivers and I think we made a step with the car overall.”

Signing off with a word for this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, Resta has revealed that Mercedes will bring more new parts: “Of course, we’ve got also new parts coming onto the car in those races that they will always help in improving the performance, so let’s see what we can get in Austria.”