Mercedes confirm ‘boundaries being pushed’ in F1 upgrade fight

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has addressed suspicions raised by Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko, who claimed that the Silver Arrows' front wing bent considerably. 

The Brackley-based team introduced a new front for the recent Monaco Grand Prix, which has resulted in a considerable performance boost. 

George Russell secured pole and a podium in the Canadian Grand Prix, whilst Lewis Hamilton topped the opening day of this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix. 

At first glance, it appeared that Mercedes had not taken upgrades to Spain, unlike Red Bull and Ferrari. 

However, following a question from RacingNews365 during the team principals' press conference, Wolff confirmed that was not entirely true.

"We brought parts, quite a bit to this race, but maybe not the visible ones," Wolff said.  

"So I think in that fight, you need to add performance every single Grand Prix. And even if it's just a few milliseconds here and there, but we brought parts."

In terms of upgrades, several teams, as pointed out by Wolff, are pushing to the edge of what is legal in F1 nowadays.

Of course, an area of attention currently is front wings, especially Mercedes' following Marko's suspicions. 

It has caused banned flexi wings to be a hot topic once again, with Wolff having conceded himself that most teams are pushing the limits of what is legal in the sport. 

"In Formula 1, everybody jumps to a conclusion and says, I've seen that front wing and those side pods and those deflectors. Front wings play a big role today. It's clear.

"Aero elasticity plays a big role, but so do the floors. I think it's always the combination of these. You can have a front wing that flexes like a banana and passes the test, but the rest of the car just doesn't work properly in the interaction.

"I think everybody's trying to push the boundaries and within the regulations. And I think what we've been able to do over the last three races is particular on the right side, where we believe that we've made a big step and all of the aero bits that came since then, and maybe we've just been very much on the other end of where we should have been on wings and floors and all of that."