Mercedes W15 upgrade plan revealed with significant Lewis Hamilton claim

Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes are one upgrade away from consistently fighting at the sharp end of the Formula 1 grid, adamant the W15 is “super close”.

After a trying start to the start, Mercedes toiling with only the fourth fastest car on the grid despite pre-expectations, the team unlocked the performance in the W15 at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Are Mercedes ‘super close’ to having the fastest car on the grid?

Bolting on a new flexi front wing, one dubbed by pundits to be the “eureka” moment or “silver bullet”, the team has downplayed that with Toto Wolff putting their surge down to a “moment” where “suddenly the data made sense” .

But it did play a part in helping Mercedes achieve a “balance” with the W15 and find the sweet spot, leading to the team’s current run of four podium finishes.

Two of those, Austria and Britain, were courtesy of race victories with George Russell inheriting the lead at the Red Bull Ring when Max Verstappen and Lando Norris punctured while at Silverstone, Hamilton’s victory was purely on pace.

So much so the now 104-time Grand Prix winner believes Mercedes is one upgrade away from fighting for regular race wins.

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“I think when we started the season and we had a car where we weren’t going anywhere near Red Bull, for example,” he said after his record-breaking ninth Silverstone victory, “anywhere near looking like we would ever get a win through the year.

“That for me felt like it would be kind of bittersweet at the end of the season, where you’ve not had something like today.

“And the fact that we’ve really all come together, everyone’s done such a great job to get the car into a place where we’re feeling much more comfortable and really changes from the foundation from last year.

“So not leaving on a low, but leaving on a high, which has been our goal.

“There’s still a long, long way to go, but the car, by no means, is the car the quickest car on the grid right now.

“I think we are super close, and I think hopefully with a couple of, with the next upgrade perhaps, we will be in an even stronger position to really, really be fighting at the front row more consistently.”

Declaring his victory was the first that Mercedes achieved on “pure pace”, he’s now looking forward to the next race in Hungary and potentially making it two from two.

“I definitely am really looking forward to that, to go in there, but just also the trajectory we’re on and the fact, you know, the car is starting to really, really come alive and feel great,” he said.

“And there’s, you know, now I can start to compete with these two [Verstappen and Norris] here is a great, great feeling.”

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