Wolff: We don't expect Montreal to suit our car

The first race without the problematic zero-sidepod concept that plagued them for years and a half, the Mercedes 'W14B' has now set the former F1 World Champions on a different course. Although the car did not shine in Qualifying (or practice for that matter) in the race the pair of Black Arrows were only better by race winner Max Verstappen in the dominant Red Bull.

With Lewis Hamilton and George Russell both content with the new direction the team has taken, but heading to the point-and-squirt-with-some-zigzags-layout which the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is, Wolff is not optimistic: "We now move on to Montreal, with its long straights and low-speed corners, it's not a track that we expect to suit our car as well as Barcelona did.

"No matter where the true pace of the car is this weekend, we will aim to maximise our results. The characteristics of the circuit will also provide further opportunities to learn about the W14 and feed into our development path," explained Wolff in the Mercedes preview of Round 7 of the 2023 F1` World Championship this weekend in Canada.

Reflecting on the race in Barcelona in which Hamilton finished second and Russell third, albeit nearly half a minute behind Verstappen, Wolff said: "The result in Spain was a well-deserved reward for everyone's efforts at Brackley and Brixworth to bring our update package to the track. We were pleased with how it performed, and it will provide a new baseline for us to build from.

"But we must also manage our expectations. It was a circuit that suited our car, and we should expect our direct competitors to be stronger in the next races. The gap to Red Bull is large and it will take lots of hard work to close that down. Nevertheless, we're up for the challenge."

Wolff also went on to tip his hat to Mick Schumacher, the team's F1 reserve, who was on testing duty for the team after the Grand Prix in Spain: "Mick got his first opportunity to drive the W14. He settled in well during the Pirelli tyre test and enjoyed the experience. Mick has become a valuable member of the Team already and his work in the simulator has proved useful in finding lap time, as we saw in Barcelona."

The circuit named after the country's favourite racing son - Gilles Villeneuve - is packed with epic memories for Hamilton who won his first Grand Prix in 2017, driving for McLaren in Montreal and powered to another six victories, matching Michael's Schumacher's record seven wins at the venue located on the Île Notre-Dame, a manmade island that hosted the World Expo in 1967.