Canada, “an electric shock” for Mercedes

Mercedes lost a battle to Ferrari at the Canadian GP last Sunday in Montreal. Sebastian Vettel returned to the victory after which he was racing from Bahrain, while his direct rival Lewis Hamilton was only able to reach the finish line in fifth position. The German thus regained the leading position in the Championship, one point ahead of the reigning world champion.

“It was a difficult weekend for us. Ferrari proved it had the best car in qualifying and the race, admitted the executive president of Mercedes Motorsport Toto wolff. We arrived in Montreal confident and the result is another lesson that teaches us that the performances obtained in the past are not representative this year. »

“It’s very hard to see that a trend emerges from one circuit to another. The results are determined by gaps tighter than ever. It's up to the team that makes the fewest mistakes, that achieves the best development on its chassis and Power Unit, that finds the right balance between performance and reliability and that puts it all together on Friday." added the Austrian.

Mercedes still retains control of the Manufacturers' Championship with a 17-point lead over Scuderia Ferrari before the French GP where all the teams will arrive in the unknown.

“This weekend proved to be harder than expected and the result is an electric shock for the whole team, underlined Toto Wolff. We have to get back in the right direction, find a way to gain performance to provide a response in two weeks at Paul-Ricard. »

Discover the analysis of the Canadian GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2169 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.