Mercedes 'on a war footing' as it promises further upgrades

Mercedes has outlined it is preparing to introduce upgrades to the W15 at the upcoming Formula 1 rounds in a further bid for pace improvement.

The Brackley-based squad has struggled for performance this year as it continues to compete off the front-running pace under the current set of technical regulations.

The ground effect cars have seen Mercedes slip back in the pecking order since their introduction in 2022, with the team winning just one race in that time, having been a championship force from 2014 to 2021.

Mercedes brought further upgrades at Imola last time out that granted it a “gentle step forward”, according to technical director Andrew Shovlin.

The British engineer asserted its effort at the factory has not diminished amid its period of on-track adversity.

“It certainly has been a push,” Allison said.

“The factory is really on a war footing at the moment and the reason that upgrade package came in two parts is originally [across Miami and Imola]. it was slated to arrive in one slab.

“But we brought forward what we could to get it a little bit quicker. It has been a big old push, and our challenge now is just to keep that momentum coming.”

Monaco, Canada upgrades

Mercedes' best result of the season came at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, where George Russell crossed the line in fifth place.

As it strives to make gains towards the front of the grid, it will bring fresh parts to Monaco this weekend, as well as the following round from Canada.

“We have some more pieces for the car, aerodynamic and others parts that will arrive for Monaco, again for Canada and again in the races to follow,” he said.

“We will keep on slogging the assets back in the factory that find the lap time to design them, build them, get them out on the car and hopefully just force our way up the grid.

“We are several tenths of a second now nearer the front than we were at the start of the year and in Imola itself, we moved a tenth or two nearer to the front. We are pretty happy with that.”