Mercedes about Red Bull: "We're not expecting that to change anytime soon"

"In Monaco and Baku we put the W12 in a window where only one of our drivers found the confidence to unlock the performance of the car - Valtteri in Monaco and Lewis in Baku," Wolff said in conversation with his employer's official channels. The Austrian stressed that Mercedes is in a close title race with Red Bull this season and that Mercedes' 2021 car needs to be tuned in such a way that it knows for both drivers every weekend.

Next weekend's Grand Prix of France is on the programme. It's a chance for Mercedes to trump Red Bull again. "It means returning to a more traditional circuit and hopefully better fortunes for us. It is a track we've gone well at in the past and, with a wide range of corner speeds that will test the car in every aspect it's an interesting challenge for us to tackle", he explained.

Battle with Red Bull remains fierce

Six Grands Prix have now been driven and so there are still seventeen weekends to go. "It's still a long way to go. It's looking very close at the front and we're not expecting that to change anytime soon. We'll be looking to turn our learnings from recent weeks into performance and to deliver a much stronger weekend with both cars."