Mercedes hopeful Monza won't be as difficult as Spa

Mercedes is hoping that the highspeed Monza will not be as difficult as the undulating Spa Francorchamps for the W13.

Speaking in their strategy debrief video, Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin said the team is "optimistic" they won't encounter the same problems as they did during the Belgium Grand Prix weekend.

"Fundamentally the aerodynamics of the car will be very similar, we can run smaller wings but if we run smaller wings we've got a bit less downforce," explained Shovlin.

"We're optimistic that some of the specific problems we had in Spa over the bumps shouldn't affect us."

Shovlin: hard to say "exactly" where Mercedes will be on pace

While Shovlin believes the team can find a better working window for the W13 at the fastest circuit on the calendar, the team is still unsure where they will be relative to Red Bull and Ferrari.

He added: "We think we can get a better working window, however the Red Bull does look very efficient.

"It's fast on the straights and it's quick in the corners and those problems seem bigger for us when we go to the low downforce tracks.

"So it's difficult to say exactly where we will be, but probably not as strong as we were in Zandvoort, but hopefully nowhere near as difficult as it was in Spa."