Making amends

The recovery starts this weekend, or so Mercedes hopes. If the upgrade package introduced at the Monaco Grand Prix doesn’t work as anticipated, the consequences don’t bear thinking about for a team pinning its hopes of re-emerging as a title-winning force on the success of the ‘new direction’ the revised car represents.

A week later than planned following the cancellation of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Mercedes will trial a new underfloor, modified front suspension and revised specification of sidepods/engine cover. This is not the silver bullet the team might crave but, as trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin explains, it is effectively a fresh start.

‘The key thing is that we are not just looking to bring a lap time update, we are looking to head off in a different development direction,’ says Shovlin. ‘One that we think gives us a better chance in the long term of being able to challenge for race wins and World Championships.’