Latest upgrades put Mercedes back in front

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Mercedes have brought a range of important new upgrades to their car for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix. And judging from the drivers' reactions on Friday, it's been a big step in the right direction.

The changes include radical new scoop-shaped turning vanes attached to the side of the nose extending below the chassis. There are also complex new bargeboards, featuring a series of vertical fins and a revised rear wing. A two-tiered monkey seat and a re-profiled floor in front of the rear tyres are also being rolled out this weekend.

"The team has done an amazing job with the upgrades," said Lewis Hamilton after topping both FP1 and FP2.

His team mate Valtteri Bottas, who won the last Grand Prix two weeks ago, was also excited by the new additions to the Mercedes.

“Today was an important one for us with the new upgrade package on the car,” said Bottas. "Our target was to evaluate if the new upgrades are working well. And it seems like they are!

"It’s way too early to tell exactly where we are," he admitted. "But everything seems to be working well so far. It’s always nice to start the weekend in a positive way.

"I really enjoyed it out there today so I hope we can squeeze more performance out of the package."

Spanish GP: Mercedes drivers stay on top in FP2

"It was a pretty good day for the team," added Mercedes technical director James Allison.

"We have some new bits on the car for this weekend that we wanted to try out and ensure everything was working well with those. And it seems like it is.

"We feel like we're in better shape in that compared to winter testing," he added. "We've definitely made some progress and we'll be in with a shout if we keep up the good work this weekend."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.