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Mercedes says there are still "question marks" about car
Mercedes says there are still "question marks" that remain about the performance of its W08, despite a dominant 1-2 finish in the Canadian Grand Prix.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Jun 15, 2017, 3:07 PM
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After a mammoth effort at its Brackley factory in the days after Monaco helped it unlock a better set-up path with its 2017 F1 car for Montreal, Lewis Hamilton produced his best performance of the year to take pole position and victory.
The result delivered a blow to Ferrari's title ambitions, moving Mercedes back ahead in the constructors' championship and slashing Sebastian Vettel's advantage in the drivers' standings to 12 points.
But Mercedes is not taking for granted that it has solved all its problems yet, and claims there were moments over the weekend that have left it convinced it needs to do much more work.
In particular, it believes the fact that Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas felt such different grip levels in qualifying shows that it does not yet have all the answers.
Motorsport boss Toto Wolff said: "Although they had really similar set-ups, Lewis's grip level was increasing through the qualifying sessions, and Valtteri's were decreasing. And for no obvious reasons to us.
"These are the little question marks that remain and we have to get on top of it."
Mercedes acknowledges that the next race in Baku could be a tough one for it, with the tight and twisty street section not ideal for its long-wheelbase car.
Wolff said though that Mercedes would look intensely at how it managed to get things right in Montreal, which will hopefully allow it to take the fight to Ferrari again in Azerbaijan.
"It will be another challenging situation," he said. "Last year it was a difficult race, completely different, and at the moment we need to stay race-by-race, stay in the same calm mode we are and collect points.
"There will be good weekends and very good weekends, and there will be the odd bad weekend. We had it in Monte Carlo and Ferrari had it Canada. It is just about limiting those."
He added: "The more data you collect, the more you understand. We have seen it in last year, we grew stronger every year and this is not an instinct business, this is a scientific business. I think every mile we drive is going to make us perform better, and hopefully good enough to compete for the championship."
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