Former F1 driver Martin Brundle has laid out concerns over Mercedes' new upgrade package. The Brackley-based outfit has introduced a raft of changes to the W14, with a new front suspension, new floor and crucially new bodywork - with the radical 'zeropod' concept ditched. Though initially intended to have been added at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix last weekend before the race was cancelled due to flooding in the region, the package has debuted at Monaco despite the unique challenges presented by the streets of the principality. Lewis Hamilton secured third in FP1 before slipping to sixth in the second session, though he was more comfortable with his set-up direction than teammate George Russell, who failed to reach the top 10 in either session.
Mercedes ladder change
With the changes coming midseason, Mercedes' upgrades have been patched into an existing design concept rather than being built from the ground up as would have been the case if the Silver Arrows had developed the new look over the winter. "My concern is that it is a complete concept the car is built around. That is not going to win many beauty parades is it? It has got a touch of Frankenstein about it," Brundle told Sky Sports F1 before practice started. "But as the great Ken Tyrrell used to say, if they cross the line first then they all look beautiful. Well, I am sorry, I can kind of imagine Toto and Lewis saying: 'right, if we keep doing the same thing, we will get the same result. Put something else on it'. "What the team are saying, in all seriousness, is that this will enable us to have a new reference point and move forward from there, rather than being halfway up a ladder that appears to be going nowhere, let's build another ladder and enable us to climb higher. "Let's see how it performs, it might be magical."
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