Formula 1 – Canadian GB findings: Mercedes has not yet won the World Cup

As Mercedes celebrates its association with Red Bull and Ferrari at the Canadian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel is once again battling his team’s strategic mistakes. Meanwhile, at Ferrari, Carlos Science is increasingly pushing himself into the number two role. Inventions of the Canadian GP.

1. Mercedes has not yet won the World Cup

As “the worst car I’ve ever driven here,” Louis Hamilton described his recordings of Mercedes performance at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in practice on Friday. Nearly two days later, the former world champion finished third on stage and could not stop talking about the pace of his W13.

“After a full battle with the car, third place is immense, I did not expect that,” Britain said after crossing the finish line. His team boss Toto Wolf looked just like that and talked about a promising step in the right direction. “We should be happy. We showed it on the track today. In the end we were fast, it’s good. It gives us hope that we can take another step in the next few weeks.”

Because the silver arrows actually went a long distance at eye level with the Red Bulls and Ferraris at race speed. In the second stage, Hamilton and teammate George Russell were the fastest drivers on the entire field and recorded the best time one after the other on the scoreboard. The form curve in the Mercedes continues vertically upwards.

For the first time this season, they took two stages in a row (a week ago in Russell, Azerbaijan) – one of the tracks that did not actually play on the traditional racing team cards. Both Baku and Montreal have slower corners and longer ones in their profiles, but Mercedes prefers courses that require more aerodynamics, including medium and fast corners with short fast sections.

Mercedes Paths has not yet arrived

With Silverstone and Le Castellet, precisely such rounds are on the agenda in the coming weeks. If the flow continues, Mercedes can not only be a candidate for personal racing victories, but also a turning point in the world championship. Fehrer is 64 points behind Constance Monster Russell Verstappen. If two or three races are bad for the Dutchman or he has to retire due to technical issues, Russell could close the gap.

Unlike the Silver Arrows, Red Bull and Ferrari in particular, there has been no problem so far in terms of reliability. “It simply came to our notice then [Ferrari & Red Bull] The cars are still parked. We are happy with our durability, “said Wolf.

Almost in anticipation of what would happen in the coming weeks and months, the boss of the Mercedes team took up the World Championship debate after the race and immediately stopped the growing excitement. “The train left a long time ago. But we want to win races on our own. I think we can do it.”

But Red Bull also notes that the performance of its long-time rival continues to increase. The three-way battle between the Austrians, Ferrari and Mercedes is no longer in question, RB Motorsport boss Helmut Marco believes: “The whole thing will happen very quickly, you have to keep working.