Mercedes had always lacked competition on the grid. However, this season, they are facing a tough comeback from Red Bull.
For Lewis Hamilton, the Styrian Grand Prix highlighted four races without a victory since the dawn of the turbo-hybrid era.
The Brit was concerned by the 10-second gap that Max Verstappen was able to hold before his late stop on the penultimate lap.
As a result, the W12 was put under the microscope.
Hamilton confirms an upgrade
When Hamilton was asked if there would be an upgrade to the car, he denied knowing anything about it.
However, James Alison, Mercedes’ technical engineer, has confirmed that there would be upgrades to the car.
Hamilton confirmed this news during a press conference saying the same thing: “I always knew we had that upgrade coming… we’re learning more and more about the car.”
Mercedes to ramp up their car
Mercedes team boss, Toto Wolff had recently stated that there would be no upgrades to their car as their focus was on 2022.
With Red Bull being able to maintain huge gaps between the two cars, Mercedes want to play along.
James Alison has revealed that there will be upgrades to the car including improvements in the aerodynamic performance.
He also promises to optimize the machine.
Hamilton discusses implications
The news of the upgrade might be exactly what Hamilton was hoping for. However, he seems to be undisturbed by the championship standings.
“I can’t get tied up and get into that negative bubble of worrying,” he said.
“All I can do right now is put all that energy into making sure that I’m best prepared, helping the engineers be better prepared, lots of great conversations.
“This is the time when we just come together and unite and worked as hard as we can to rectify whatever issues we have.
“That’s what we do, that’s why we’re the world champions and I have confidence in the team that we can do that,” he concluded.
With competition on the edge, Mercedes will be looking to strike back at Red Bull.
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