After the results of Barcelona, there are those who have found enthusiasm: the Mercedes fans; and who has found sleep again: the technicians of Brackley. There star team did big steps forward since the beginning of the season, and it looks like the project W13, after having risked the provision, can continue its evolution.
Spain brings advice
In last Sunday's bullfight all three top teams made noise in their own way: Red Bull and with a brace, Ferrari with reliability problems, and Mercedes long awaited awakening. Most insiders had labeled the W13 one wrong car after the first five rounds of the season. In Montmelò, however, the technicians of the star brought the first package consisting of updates, and the improvements have been noticeable.
Russell reached third place, but what makes you think more about the potential of the 'without bellies' car is the Hamilton comeback. After contact with Magnussen on the first lap, the Englishman ended up at the back of the group. However, the wheelbase of his W13 allowed him to get back on top showing off potential of the car, even closing behind Sainz.
Mercedes awakening
Therefore, after what was seen in Spain, it seems clear that the reduced window of use of the car seen in Miami has widened. There Mercedes she found herself more comfortable warming up the tyres, and the deficit of porpoising you are reduced. This has allowed pilots not to fear for their backs, and to have a step not disappointing like the one seen so far. For the first time in Formula 1, the duel between Russell e Verstappen, where the Englishman made life difficult for the defending champion; this demonstrates that neither Mercedes nor the Englishman want to stand by and watch.
Nessun dorma
Expectations have grown developments look promising, but the road is long, and to say that Mercedes can go back to today title fight, is a somewhat risky exercise. Of course the potential is there, but so are the opponents. Ferrari and Red Bull study and bring developments for improve performance from the first round in Bahrain, while Mercedes can only allow itself the luxury of doing so now, after having struggled with various jumps for the first quarter of the season. The technicians can therefore start to bring ideas to gnaw tenths off the top, but up there you can't sleep at all.
The proof of this is given by the stopwatch: in qualifying the fastest silver arrow was a six tenths from pole di Leclerc. If the latter had finished the race with the 10-second gap from the Red Bulls present at his retirement – being conservative given the pace of the Monegasque, who was going for another grand chelem – Mercedes would have brought home the usual 40 second gap.
The Mercedes W13: different twins
Despite strong performances from both drivers, Hamilton reports that there was some difference between the two W13. Differences that were also noticed in qualifying, albeit only slightly, with Russell starting fourth and Hamilton sixth.
A small gap - just over a tenth - but the seven-time world champion underlines that the experiments paid off: “Our cars were a little differente, we did some experiment on George's car which in the end was the best in qualifying, so maybe the next race I too will be able to adopt this solution. It's a great sign that we're heading in the right direction and I have no doubts that sooner or later we'll be back fighting for the win. In any case, if I hadn't had that crash, I would have been fighting with the Red Bulls. This bodes well for me as to whether we will be soon embroiled in a battle for first place".
Regarding the imminent Monaco Grand Prix, however, Lewis did not say too much: "I don't think we will be fast enough for qualify first".
Principality Directorate
If Hamilton, given the improvements, doubts that the star team can be fighting for the top in Monaco, there are those who instead believe that the W13 can find fertile ground in the streets of the Principality to try at least to hope for success. He spoke about it Mattia binotto, Scuderia Ferrari team principal: “Monaco is a GP in itself. It's a race in which what we saw in Barcelona doesn't necessarily matter. In the Principality I imagine that Mercedes can be part of the fight, because they have load and traction".
In support of his thesis, there is precisely the performance of cavallino last year in Monte-Carlo: a car with a lot of cargo, which managed to bring home the pole with Leclerc, it's a second place with Sainz. So we'll see if Mercedes will have at least theopportunity to bring home the first success of the season. But above all, if he starts to grow in the two top teams the fear of the eight-time world champion team. If Mercedes is back in the title fight, or comes close, it could result unwanted or desired guest depending on the circumstances, taking off points to one or the other team, with the consequent benefits or damages in terms of classification.
STATEMENT SOURCE: FormulaPassion; Motorsport.com Italy
