Toto Wolff confirms Mercedes’ Canadian GP plan that will keep Lewis Hamilton happy
Toto Wolff has announced that Lewis Hamilton will have the same improvements as teammate George Russell for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
It comes after Hamilton stated that only his fellow Briton received a new front wing on his car during the Monaco Grand Prix. The seven-time Formula One champion told reporters that was one of the reasons why teammate Russell outqualified him in the Principality.
Mercedes only had time to prepare one front wing for the Monaco race. Russell then revealed that Hamilton had discarded the original concept of a coin toss and proposed that the 26-year-old employ the new pieces.
“If we made a mistake in qualifying and damaged one of the front wings, we won’t be able to use it again, and you’d have to start from the pit lane. I was willing to accept the risk of utilizing it, and I assumed it was a delayed birthday present he gave me, indicating I could use it.”
Monaco is seldom a good place to test improvements, but the new parts helped Russell finish fifth, matching his season high. And, ahead of the trip to Montreal, team chief Wolff has announced that both drivers would receive not only a better front wing, but also some other new parts.
He stated, “We had a positive weekend in Monaco. We continued to make steady progress with our car, increasing its overall balance and moving closer to those ahead. That progress is not yet visible in terms of positions, but if we can continue to decrease the gap to the fastest cars, we are confident it will in due course.
“Both drivers will get the revised front wing in Canada, along with some other development items for this event. It provided a slight lap time advantage around the Principality’s tight streets and should be more beneficial on future circuits.
“That being said, the picture at the head of the field is quite competitive. The field has narrowed, and we have no illusions that others will continue to improve. We will have to keep working hard and deliberately to get ourselves into the mix.”
Wolff is optimistic about his team’s fortunes at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, saying: “It offers a mix of low-speed corners and high-speed straights, which makes for great racing.” We always like going to Montreal because the fans are so passionate about Formula One. We’ve had many excellent times there throughout the years, and perhaps we can contribute to that this weekend.”
