Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed that this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix will offer the Silver Arrows a chance to evaluate a key "weakness", which they are hoping has been solved.
The Brackley-based team heads into the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the back of its strongest performance of the season in Montreal, where George Russell converted pole position into a podium.
A recent upgrades package – which includes a new front wing – has brought the W15 to life, although the traditional nature of this weekend's venue will truly put its progress to the test.
Being able to fight with Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari on merit in the Canadian Grand Prix has been a huge boost for Mercedes, although Wolff is aware that the upcoming races will see its rivals perform very well.
"We have continued to make incremental gains across the past few races," said Wolff. "It was encouraging therefore to take another positive step forward in Canada.
"To see that translate into our strongest team result of the season so far is a reward for everyone's hard work. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a unique track, however.
"It has a narrow range of corner speeds and, with a newly re-laid surface, was something of an outlier compared to more traditional venues.
"We know our competitors will perform more strongly at upcoming races so we will need to continue to work hard to consistently get ourselves in the fight for podiums, and eventually race wins."
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'A good test'
This weekend is a massive one for Mercedes, as it will potentially answer whether the previously dominant team are back in genuine victory contention.
Mercedes this season has struggled at circuits where there is a "wide speed range" in the corners, something the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has through a serious of low, medium and high speed turns.
It offers the Silver Arrows a chance to test if it has made substantial progress after all, given that if a car can perform well in the Spanish GP, it should be able to perform anywhere to a high standard.
"Barcelona will provide a good test of our progress," added Wolff. "It has a mix of fast, medium, and low speed corners, a long straight and plenty of elevation change.
"Tracks that contain this wide speed range have been a weakness of ours so far this year.
"This weekend will therefore provide another opportunity to evaluate our progress through our recent updates, and we hope to build on the positive momentum from Montreal."
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