Mercedes technical director, Mike Elliott, has affirmed that the team are still keen on securing second in the championship.
Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were given a poor car at the beginning of the year, and the skinny sidepod concept has not worked as hoped.
The W13 has encountered a multitude of issues, one of which being drag, another being the aerodynamic phenomenon of “porpoising” and bouncing.
The car has been improving since the opening eight rounds of the year, and the two Britons have now taken their tally up to 13 podiums for the season.
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The Silver Arrows have been working their way through the issues being experienced as a result of the new technical regulations, and the ground effect aerodynamics are no longer proving as hostile to their car as it once was.
However, neither the seven-time champion nor the 24-year-old have won a race yet, and time is running out to do so.
There are six rounds remaining, most of which are at circuits that are expected to suit them, certainly more so than Spa and Monza.
With a 35-point gap up to second-placed Ferrari in the standings, there is still every reason to hope that the German side can yet give the Scuderia a battle to hold onto the runners-up spot.
However, the main focus is on developing a more competitive race car for next year as the next stage of evolution takes place.
“We want to try and fight Ferrari for that P2 position, we want to try and win a race this season or multiple races ideally,” explained Elliott in a Mercedes YouTube video.
“But most of all we want to get ourselves back on track so we are fighting properly for a Championship next year.
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“That’s not any disrespect to our opposition, we’ve got fantastic opposition but that’s what we really need to do because we want to be back there, we want to be challenging for championships because that’s what we are about.”
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are expected to be given upgrades in Singapore and Monza as they try to take at least one win away from Red Bull before the season is out.
Max Verstappen is expected to wrap up the drivers’ title in the next couple of rounds in Singapore and Japan.