Ex-world champion deems 2024 Spanish GP as the ‘ultimate test’ for the upbeat Mercedes F1 team

Mercedes took pole position in Montreal for the first time this season.

Ex-world champion deems 2024 Spanish GP as the ‘ultimate test’ for the upbeat Mercedes F1 team

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton (via IMAGO)

The 1996 world champion, Damon Hill claims Mercedes will have to face the ultimate test during the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix. The outfit showed promising pace during the Montreal event after a slow start to the 2024 season.

Mercedes scored their first podium in Montreal after George Russell put in a tireless performance under tricky conditions to finish P3. Lewis Hamilton finished P4 in a disappointing afternoon for the seven-time world champion, but from a team’s point of view, the Silver Arrows managed to finish with their best result of the campaign.

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Damon Hill shared his opinion on the upbeat performance of Mercedes, saying the W15 will face a much sterner test around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in two weeks. The track is classified as a wind tunnel due to its average speed of medium to high, straights and corners, which specialize in oozing out the aerodynamic performance of a car.

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To go with that [car] to Barcelona, which is the next race, that will be the ultimate test of their progress. Barcelona is really just like a wind tunnel. It is pure aero, medium-to-high speed everywhere.
Damon Hill spoke on the SkySportsF1 podcast

Mercedes has the experience of Lewis Hamilton, who has been a dominant force around Barcelona and has won six times at the high-speed circuit. This will be an advantage to the team provided they function well with their upgrades. As for George Russell, he will be eyeing a desperate win after missing out in Montreal, despite starting on pole for the first time in two years.

Helmut Marko claims Mercedes is catching up to Red Bull

Red Bull Technical Advisor, Helmut Marko has claimed Mercedes is catching up to the standards of Red Bull after their encouraging performance in Canada. Red Bull won the race but had to fend off fierce competition from Mercedes and McLaren.

Helmut Marko and Toto Wolff
Helmut Marko and Toto Wolff (via IMAGO)
The competition has made up ground, no question about it, but we are not worried. There are further improvements to the car, which are promising based on the data. McLaren was as strong in Canada as it was on the previous GP weekends, Mercedes was stronger, but Ferrari was weaker.
Helmut Marko via speedweek.com

Helmut Marko has spoken on the conditions during the Canadian GP that helped McLaren and Mercedes gain visible ground on Red Bull. He also said that the same conditions caused Ferrari to struggle, which came into the race weekend appearing to be the most promising team out of the lot.

Marko has, however, vested his confidence in his team, saying the Milton Keynes outfit is still the team to beat after a spectacular win in Montreal. Red Bull currently leads the constructors championship by 49 points against Ferrari, which suffered an unfortunate double DNF during the Canadian GP and will be looking to bounce back in Barcelona.

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