Mercedes pushing on with 'many more updates' for W14

Mercedes will implement many more updates on its W14 black arrow in upcoming races to build upon the package it introduced in Monaco.

Wholesale changes to Mercedes' car were centered mainly around a new front suspension and new sidepods, with the Brackley squad's engineer's developing away from the W14's troubled 'zero sidepod' concept and towards a more conventional design.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff clarified in Monaco that he didn't expect to see "a step change in performance" in the wake of the changes, but the Austrian was hopeful they would provide "a more stable platform" from which to develop their car.

Speaking to Mercedes' fans on the team's traditional post-race debrief on YouTube, technical director James Allison revealed that the outfit's development programme is just getting started.

"We certainly will settle back and and look at what the Monaco upgrade package has brought us at a more normal track," Allison said.

"But we will also push on in parallel with a whole bunch more things. So there will be a little bit we’re bringing to Barcelona and many more things in the races that follow.

"We can’t afford to just do everything sequentially. Although there’s a sort of academic purity to that, it’s just too slow way ahead.

"So the upgrades will keep coming. Hopefully a decent package to build upon what we put on the track in Monaco and we just step forward from here up to the summer break and beyond."

• Read also: Russell anticipating 'small jump' for Mercedes in Barcelona

Like Wolff, Allison played down the team's display in Monaco where Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished fourth and fifth, as the Principality's tight and twisty layout offered limited insight into the true impact of Mercedes' upgrades.

"I would say it’s too early to say what their impact will be on the rest of the season because Monaco is such a terribly difficult place to make these sort of judgements at," Allison explained.

"We didn’t set the world on fire in qualifying but the car had reasonably tidy race pace and we will wait until the next race to find out to see where we truly stand at a more normal track.

"But the drivers seemed to give reasonable feedback about the car. They felt good under braking, the car felt okay.

"And the data we took off the car off the aerodynamic sensors were not giving us any alarm bells. They were suggesting that things were in line with expectation."

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