On the back of arguably their best Friday of this season, Christian Horner says he always said it was a “only a matter of time” before Mercedes joined the fight.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were second and third quickest in Friday’s practice for the Spanish Grand Prix on a day when Mercedes introduced a new floor, front wing endplates and rear corner endplates.
The floor featured a scythe-like edge floor wing while the shape was also changed.
Mercedes went almost bounce-free throughout the two practice hours while in FP2 they had the fastest time down the straight.
Russell’s best lap time was two-tenths up on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the Dutchman only P5 in his slimmed down RB18.
“I’ve said all year that it’s only a matter of time before they get their problems under control and they now seem to be able to do so,” Horner told Sky Sports F1.
“So they will be another factor in the World Championship fight.”
Not quite quickest, but Lewis Hamilton feels Mercedes are “on their way” after a solid Friday in Spain.https://t.co/DwvWCjF9xg #F1 #SpanishGP
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Mercedes are third in the title race on 95 points, 56 behind Red Bull and a further six adrift of Ferrari.
However, it must be noted that last time out in Miami, Russell finished Friday’s practice fastest of all and then qualified down in 12th place.
He did recover to score points, continuing his top-five run, but overall Mercedes were disappointed with their Miami GP result, a race that Verstappen won for Red Bull.
Horner continued: “They’ve had a strong start and we still have a few things to clarify on our part. But it’s interesting because it changes the whole dynamic in the fight for the title.
“On this track, it’s very important to get the car right. You have to get the set-up right and get the tyre degradation under control. Especially in the race, the left front tyre is put under a lot of pressure.
“It’s a complex track and the…
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