Mercedes are set to head into the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend with some major changes to their W13 car.
This is according to former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who suggested that, while everyone will be bringing upgrades to the race, the Silver Arrows have made much better headway.
Mercedes have struggled since the start of the season to find performance, and they introduced a radical sidepod design ahead of the year in a bid to capitalise on the ground effect aerodynamics.
However, they have struggled to make their concept work consistently, and there have been inherent problems with the car.
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They have needed to make sacrifices in order to eliminate the “porpoising” and bouncing that has been affecting them since the start of the year, but this might change in Spa.
A new technical directive is set to become active this weekend after the FIA intervened at the Canadian Grand Prix to mitigate “porpoising” for safety reasons.
This not only means a raise of ride height for teams that are showing too much oscillation, but a change to the floors and planks as well.
Therefore, the performance of Red Bull and Ferrari is perhaps going to be affected too, so there is plenty of speculation around whether the new rules are going to work for or against the top two teams.
Not only is there a potentially new playing field, but there is still plenty of scop to develop, and Montoya reckons Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will have some interesting new toys to play with this weekend.
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“Coming out of the break, the rumour is that Mercedes have a big, big upgrade coming for the cars,” he told the Vegas Insider.
“If that’s the case, you know what’s going to happen, you know what’s coming.
“I think the big question mark everyone needs to pay attention to is the next couple of races, my personal thinking is everyone will come up with big upgrades.
“But I think Mercedes have still out-developed everyone else, is Mercedes’ step so big that they will start winning every race and win the last nine races and have a one-two seven or eight times and have a shot at the Constructors’ Championship while everyone else fumbles?
“Or their step is starting to fight against Red Bull and Ferrari? That is the more realistic version of what I see coming.
“Mercedes might have a shot at winning a couple of races this year if their development goes well.”
Hamilton and Russell have managed 11 podiums between them this season, eight of which have arrived in the last six races, demonstrating the massive improvements in Brackley and Brixworth.