Mercedes will be introducing a new aerodynamic package to their car at next weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix as the team bid to continue their ‘upward trend’ of the last couple of races.
Team Principal Ross Brawn said that Mercedes have shown good speed in certain conditions over the last two races but hopes that, from Barcelona onwards, the team will find a better level of consistency so they can challenge the top teams.
“The last two races in Turkey and China have proved that we can be quick in certain conditions but we need to focus on achieving that level of performance consistently over the entire race weekend,” explained Brawn. “We will have an aerodynamic development package for the Spanish Grand Prix, along with refinements to our suspension package, which should help to find the consistency in the car that we are looking for.
“The Circuit de Catalunya is such a familiar venue to the teams that we should be able to maximise our practice time to focus on this, and I hope to see another step forward and a positive weekend.”
There has been much talk about the future of Michael Schumacher since the race in Turkey after the seven-time world champion qualified eighth and finished down in twelfth in what was a very messy race for the German. Former drivers have this week been suggesting that Schumacher will quit soon after he told the BBC on Sunday that “the big joy is not there right now.”
One week on, however, and Schumacher seems more positive: “The Spanish Grand Prix is traditionally where it really feels like the European season gets underway and holds a lot of good memories for me,” he said. “Of course, we know the Circuit de Catalunya very well from testing, but it will be interesting to see the effect of KERS, the DRS and the Pirelli tyres on a track where overtaking is always difficult.
“While I was not happy with my weekend in Turkey, there have been clear signs of improvements for us as a team, which obviously push and re-boost my motivation even more. It’s more than encouraging to see that the hard work of the team is starting to pay off. We are all determined to make progress.”
Team-mate Nico Rosberg, on the other hand, has no such worries. He qualified third in Turkey and finished fifth – equalling his best result of the season so far.
“Our upward trend is clear for all to see, even though we still have a little more progress to make in race configuration compared to qualifying,” he said. “I’m looking forward to Barcelona, where we will also be introducing an update package for the car, and I’m excited to see how it works. We showed a good level of performance at the final winter test on this circuit, and hopefully we can translate that into a strong result this weekend.”
