Mercedes Chief Technical Officer Mike Elliott has welcomed the opportunity to put the team's Zandvoort "demons to bed" with a follow-up race at the Italian Grand Prix. Poor strategy in changeable conditions saw the Brackley-based outfit pick up a best finishing position of sixth through Lewis Hamilton in the Netherlands despite starting third on the grid with George Russell. Team Principal Toto Wolff, Hamilton and Russell all maligned the race execution in the aftermath having lost points to Aston Martin in the race for second in the Constructors' standings. "When you've had a race where it has not quite gone how you want it to go, to be able to race the following weekend is always a good thing," said Elliott. "We can put those demons to bed and move forward with the car. Monza is a very different circuit to last weekend. "Zandvoort is pretty much maximum downforce, whilst Monza is the lowest downforce circuit of the year. We therefore will go down on wing level, drop downforce and drop drag and it will change the balance of the car quite a bit."
Mercedes unsure on pace for Monza
Russell finished on the podium at the Temple of Speed last season but Elliott is unsure of the Silver Arrows' ability to replicate the result given the circuit characteristics. "We are working in the simulator this week, trying to get that balance right and trying to extract the best performance this weekend in Monza," added Elliott. "As for whether we will be quick or not, I think it is always difficult to predict in Monza because it is so different to the other circuits. "It's not only your own performance you've got to be able to predict but you also have to be able to predict the performance of your competitors and that's obviously near impossible. "Fingers crossed we have a good race this weekend, that we deliver the performance that is there in the car, and hopefully get a good result."
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