Mercedes left the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula 1 with pole positions and wins in the Sprint race and the main GP, but Toto Wolff avoided any excessive excitement with the team’s new update package. The Mercedes boss stated that the gains seen on track still do not clearly match what was expected from the team’s internal data.
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The German team chose to delay its first major development package of the season until Montreal, while several other teams had already implemented updates in previous rounds. Even with the strong performance at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Wolff believes it is still early to say that the changes to the W17 worked exactly as planned.
“At times, I felt that the updates did not deliver the performance gains we expected on paper, but it is very difficult to assess,” Wolff said. The Austrian emphasized that McLaren practically did not enter the direct battle during the race, which makes a more precise comparison between the teams difficult.
According to the Mercedes boss, the car showed good pace and managed to open a gap in Montreal, but that does not necessarily mean the package delivered everything the engineers projected before the Canadian round: “We had pace and we had an advantage, but how much of that corresponds to what we anticipated? I think it is very difficult to judge yet,” he said.
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While Mercedes introduced eight updates in Canada, McLaren continues at a fast development pace. The British team brought seven new parts to Miami and another seven to Montreal, highlighting the intensity of the technical battle among the front-running teams.
Wolff also recalled that the Canadian track historically favors Mercedes, a factor that may be masking the true efficiency of the new package: “Montreal was a very good circuit for us last year as well. So, that might make our performance look better than it would be on other circuits,” he added.
For this reason, the executive prefers to remain cautious before reaching any definitive conclusion about the car’s evolution: “Probably in Monaco we will also not have a clear answer. We need to keep monitoring and analyzing,” he concluded.
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