The Mercedes F1 Team is rushing to develop a new floor which it hopes will help them close the gap to Red Bull, according to Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.
The new floor could be ready as early as the next grand prix, which will take place at Imola on 18 April, the publication added.
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Sir Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas both struggled with Mercedes’ 2021 challenger, the W12, at pre-season testing in Bahrain last month – and Red Bull’s 2021 car was more competitive than the Silver Arrows at the season-opener at the same circuit.
Hamilton still managed to win the first race of the season after edging Max Verstappen to the chequered flag, but the Dutchman will nevertheless go into the next grand prix as the favourite unless Mercedes can improve their package.
Even if Mercedes don’t have the new floor ready in time for the next grand prix, there is still a chance they might be closer to Red Bull, as they are still working towards extracting more performance from their current package.
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“But looking to Imola, looking to Portimão, I don’t think we’re good enough in the high speed and there’s plenty of that at both, and that’s one area they [Red Bull] have an advantage on us,” Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ trackside engineering director, said.
“We still don’t think we’ve got the best car but we don’t think we’ve got everything out the package yet.
“When you develop a car there are lots of areas you exploit the performance and some we don’t think have delivered everything they should.
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“So we’re going to be working pretty hard to bring performance to the car in the next couple of races. But I think it’s going to be tough.
“With those circuits, there are elements that I think will move us in the right direction. We struggled with the rear end in Bahrain.
“Those circuits are a bit easier in that regard, but as I’ve said the high speed is something we are not naïve in thinking that’s going to be a strength of ours at those tracks,” Shovlin added.
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