Mercedes reinvigorate McLaren hunt with fresh tranche of upgrades

Mercedes will introduce developments to its F1 car at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, as it looks to close the gap to constructors' championship leaders McLaren.

Sitting second in the title fight, the Brackley-based squad trails the current holders by 105 points heading into the seventh round of the season, having scored 141 points to the papaya team's 246.

Despite the strong form of George Russell, who has accumulated four podium finishes so far this campaign, the W16 is currently being out-matched by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the MCL39.

Although he is not travelling to Imola, team principal Toto Wolff was nonetheless quick to highlight the progress made from last term, when Mercedes finished fourth in the standings.

"We head to Imola having completed one quarter of the season," the Austrian said ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

"From those first six races, we can draw the following conclusions: we have made progress from last year, with the W16 a more balanced car than its predecessor; we have scored some solid results, with four podiums in that run of races; and we have more work to do if we want to challenge for victories."

In pursuit of those wins - having recently taken a first pole position of the year, courtesy of Kimi Antonelli's stunning lap in sprint qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix - the eight-time constructors' champions will port a raft of updates to the W16 in the upcoming rounds, starting with Imola.
 
"Our focus is on making gains on that final point as we begin the European leg of the season," the 53-year-old added.

"The team at Lauda Drive have been working hard to do that and we will be bringing several updates over the coming races.

"F1 is a relative game, though, and we know our competitors will make progress too. It will be interesting to see how that plays out on track."