Mercedes could have a tougher challenge on its hands this weekend in Canada. Although the German team has proved utterly dominant in the first part of the 2019 Formula One season, winning all six races so far, the concept of Scuderia Ferrari’s car is tipped to be strong on tracks similar to the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal: “The track characteristics present a different challenge, given that top speed, braking efficiency and traction are the main considerations.” – explained Scuderia Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto, ahead of the race in Canada.
Indeed, it is the corners where the Italian side is struggling this year, and a Mercedes engineer told Auto Motor und Sport: “We only have three corners there to make up time”.
Engineers estimate Ferrari’s advantage on the Montreal straights at as much as 7 tenths in total, adding: “On the brakes and traction, Ferrari is no worse than us.”
But even if Ferrari is better in Canada, it will not considerably boost the Italian team’s dwindling title chances: “We know we’re not competitive enough right now,” Mattia Binotto acknowledged. “For the time being we haven’t got any more changes coming on the car that will have a significant effect on the problems we have encountered.” – he added.
Canada, though, may be an outlier, and Toto Wolff thinks it will be “a huge challenge” for Mercedes, while Red Bull-Honda’s Max Verstappen agrees that “I expect Ferrari to be a little more competitive in Canada, which makes it a bit more difficult for us.” – he concluded, ahead of the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix.
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