For this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton will get the same upgrades as teammate George Russell, according to Toto Wolff.
It happened after Hamilton made the observation that, at the Monaco Grand Prix, only his fellow Briton’s car had a new front wing. The seven-time Formula One champion hinted to reporters that Russell, his teammate, had outqualified him in the Principality in part because of this.
For the Monaco race, Mercedes could only prepare one front wing. Russell went on to say that Hamilton was the one who disregarded the initial plan—a coin toss—and proposed that the 26-year-old use the new pieces.
Russell said: “There was one front wing this weekend and it was agreed on Tuesday that we’d do a coin toss and see who got it. Lewis said he’d tried it on the sim and was happy for me to use it this weekend, because it doesn’t go without risk.
“If we made a mistake in qualifying and damaged it, obviously that’s one front wing that we won’t ever be able to use again and you’d have to start from the pit lane. I was happy to take the risk using it and I thought it was a belated birthday present he gave me, saying I could use it.”
Although Monaco is rarely the best location to evaluate improvements, Russell’s fifth-place performance was his best of the season thanks to the new components. Additionally, team principal Wolff has stated that both drivers will receive additional new parts in addition to the upgraded front wing before the journey to Montreal.
He said: “We had an encouraging weekend in Monaco. We continued to make solid progress with our car, improving its overall balance and taking a step closer to those ahead. That progress isn’t yet showing in terms of positions but if we can continue to close the gap to the fastest cars, we know it will in due course.
“Both drivers will have the updated front wing in Canada, plus some other development items for this event. It offered a small lap time gain around the tight streets of the Principality and should offer greater benefit on upcoming circuits.
“That said, the picture at the front of the field is incredibly competitive. The field has compressed, and we are under no illusions that others will continue to improve. We will have to continue to work hard and diligently to get ourselves into the mix.”
And Wolff retains hope of improved fortunes for his team at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, adding: “It offers a mix of low-speed corners and high-speed straights which makes for great racing. We always enjoy returning to Montreal as the fans are incredibly passionate about F1. We’ve enjoyed many good moments there over the years and hopefully we can add to those this weekend.”
